Collars Come Loose the Rewrite
by lonelypencilcollection
Summary: In a world where a rigid castes systems divide the populace and allow unspeakable cruelty, is it possible for members of different castes to fall in love?
1. Chapter 1

The streets always moved in this place, and Zoro wasn't in the mood to deal with it at the moment. He wasn't in any condition to either. He had been with everyone just a short time ago, when their crew had a run in with a shichibukai named Moria and his stupid crew. He didn't figure any of them were in great shape, but at least Brook was now an official member of the crew instead of being their one weird skeleton friend that couldn't go out in sunlight. Luffy had been happy that they'd finally had a musician, but afterwards they had gotten separated, partially due to trying to make their way back out of the densely fogged area of Moria's territory. In Zoro's opinion, it was always the rest of his crew who were always getting lost, but they would always argue the reverse, saying it was him that would get lost. How could he be expected to find his way back when the streets kept moving?

He was heavily injured, to say the least, but he figured it was about the same for everyone, especially Luffy who had to intake other peoples' shadows to defeat Oars and Moria. He was close to passing out and far beyond exhausted; he'd been wandering for an hour now and all of that after the battle itself. He had noticed the buildings getting substantially grander but it took him until he saw gold plated street sign to realize where he was: Mariejois, the home of the highest caste, Celestial Dragons.

Celestial Dragons were the highest of the seven castes that made up society. Each caste was marked by a certain collar that all the members of that caste wore to mark their place in society. The Celestial Dragons were those whom were born into their castes attributed for founding society and government and therefore were allowed to do whatever they pleased not matter what the laws said. Their golden collars embellished with stones permitted them to commit the most heinous of crimes without any worry about punishment. This of course led to the majority of them being unspeakably cruel and willing to kill on a whim or enslave anyone they pleased. It was lucky that most of them never left Mariejois, but, when they did, the people of all other castes ran scared.

Zoro growled to himself. Now he was stranded in Mariejois without any knowledge about how to leave. He was thankful that it was late and that all the Celestial Dragons seemed to be asleep in their mansions, each the size of entire neighborhoods of his own castes district. He reached up and touched his own collar. It was made of iron of the lowest caste: the Untouchables. People in his caste were usually criminals who broke laws or the children of criminals. Zoro had gotten his for a crime, though, he himself thought the crime as one of his best achievements. Still, for any person who wasn't a Celestial Dragon to enter Mariejois without a permit granted to them by a celestial dragon was a crime punishable by being thrown in jail for life or the death penalty. He looked back at the trail of blood he had left through the meticulously clean street and knew that he had to keep moving, but his vision kept swimming. There were guards in this district, ones that would definitely want to capture and kill him if they found him. He knew he had to keep moving but he leaned against a large stone wall separating someone's estate from the street. He just needed a short rest, then he would move again and get back to the Sunny, the bar where his crew was based.

Then, an altogether ominous sound of dress shoes on pavement could be heard, slowly growing louder, and in the low light of the streetlamps he saw a slim figure starting to approach. Zoro couldn't tell if he was a Celestial Dragon or a patrolling guard. The man approaching didn't seem like either; he wasn't wearing the weird spacesuit that Celestial Dragons usually wore to avoid breathing the same air as the lower castes, nor was he wearing the normal garb of a military man. The man got closer and Zoro could just make out his figure. He was walking alone in the middle of the night, smoking a cigarette. The man's build was slimmer than Zoro's own but around the same height and he carried himself with a relaxed composure yet, it bespoke confidence. He wore a black suit and tie with a blue dress shirt that made his one visible eye stand out beneath his weirdly curled eyebrow. His hair was as golden as his collar that had a blue stone in it that, just like his shirt, matched his eye.

So, he was a Celestial Dragon, Zoro thought with a huff and an eye-roll as he started push off the wall and again his vision swam with darkness encroaching quickly. He must have been worse off than he assumed, but he had to move. He didn't feel like ending up the slave of some blondie for the rest of his life or, worse, dead. He had something he had to do, he couldn't just die before he achieved his dream; their dream. He started to walk away but just ended up leaning against the same wall he had been a few moments ago, just a few steps further away and the man's footsteps were getting closer and louder. He could nearly feel the other man's presence just a few meters away from him. He pushed off from the wall again only to nearly pass out and have to take a knee.

"Oi," He heard the man behind him shout and the footsteps behind him quicken until the man was right beside him and reaching out trying to get a better look at him.

The voice was deep and just a little scratchy, but not in an unattractive way. He seemed concerned but Zoro highly doubted that was the case. Celestial Dragons don't care for anyone but themselves, he reminded himself. He felt the hand on his shoulder trying to turn him towards the man and he almost let out a snarl, or at least a form of speech that resembled one.

"Get your fucking hand off me," Zoro snarled with a harsh shove into the man's shoulder causing the man to catch himself with his hands instead of falling on his butt on the pavement. He tried to cover up his collar with his hand then hoping the man hadn't noticed the collar and that he could get away before he did.

"I'm just trying to help, you damn Marimo." The man responded slightly annoyed and tried to reach out again. "You're obviously hurt so just let me take a look."

"It's none of your damn business, Curlybrows. I'm doing fine on my own." Zoro claimed as a response and tried to get up again, managing to stand.

"Oh really," the blonde said sarcastically and stood as well, "then be on your way then moss-ball."

"I will be, you Swirlybrow." Zoro replied and started to walk again slowly, only to have his vision go nearly dark again and be forced to take a knee again. He could hear the blonde start to laugh behind him and yelled, "shut up you bastard."

"What you're doing so well, go ahead be on your way." The man teased before crossing the gap between them in one long stride. "Or would you rather actually get your wounds treated first."

"Don't need it," Zoro grumbled still hiding his collar and hoping the annoying guy would just walk away if he ignored him long enough.

"Somehow I doubt that grass-head," The blonde said taking a long drag of his cigarette before crushing the remains beneath his foot. He then crouched again and reach out again, saying, "Come on my house isn't that far from here, I can treat you there and once you're better you can leave." He then noticed that Zoro was holding his neck. "Is there something wrong with your neck, if so I might have to call a friend but that's pretty serious, let me see it, Marimo."

"Leave me alone, blondie."

"Let me see it grass-brain!"

The blonde then yanked fiercely at Zoro's hand with his until he forced it to uncover the collar that was beneath it. The blonde paused with a small sound of surprise and guilt crept slightly into his mind. Zoro tensed and started to slowly reach across his waist reaching towards the three blades at his side.

"Sorry," the blonde muttered lowly. "I thought you were covering an injury, so sorry about that."

That was when Zoro finally turned towards the other man with a look of shock. Never once had he ever even fantasized that a Celestial Dragon would apologize to him. Maybe he'd imagined killing some but mostly he'd tried to stay as far away as he could from them. Rumors always said that words of apology weren't even taught to Celestial Dragons but rather they were taught as children to do whatever they felt like, that they were gods and no one could retaliate against them. Zoro and everyone he had ever known had agreed that Celestial Dragons were simply all cruel. So, Zoro didn't really know how to respond to this Celestial dragon looking at him sheepishly and apologizing.

"What?" Zoro questioned not believing that he'd heard what he had.

"I'm not repeating myself, moss-brain." The blonde said with a huff. "Anyway, you still have a lot of injuries. Like I said, my house isn't that far away."

"As if I'm following you anywhere blondie." Zoro responded gruffly after coming out of his shock. "How do I know you won't torture or kill me if I go with you?"

The man sighed and answered sadly, "If I wanted to do that I could just as easily do it here."

"Asshole," Zoro answered and tried to stand to move again.

"It's not safe for you here, you know," The man said following him as his moved at a snail's pace. "The people here won't respond to you the same way I have."

"As if I don't know that," Zoro growled. "Why are you following me?"

"If I don't follow you and a guard finds you; they'll kill you, or worse." The man replies. "If I'm with you at least I could give you an excuse for being here, but that's if you can even make it out of this district without dying of blood loss."

"I don't need your help." Zoro said.

"What will you do if they find you?"

"I'll fight them." Zoro grunted.

The man sighed, "How?"

Zoro was about to respond when his legs were kicked out from under him and made him hit the ground and loose his breath. He gasped as he looked up and the blonde standing over him. The man sighed again and rolled his eyes.

"If you can't avoid that, how well do you think you'll do against guns and armed men who actually want to kill you?" The man asked.

"Fucking bastard." Zoro cursed as he started to get back up.

He was about to start yelling when the man held a hand making him stay quite. The man was staring down the way they had come from where the blood trail faded off into the dark. The man tilted his head, listening. Zoro followed his lead and after a few seconds he could hear them; boots on pavement following his trail.

"Come on, Marimo." The man commanded snapping back into action and quickly helping Zoro up. "I said I would give you an excuse but even I really don't want to have to deal with those assholes tonight."

"EH?" Zoro questioned as he was somewhat dragged along by the blonde supporting half of his weight with an arm around his shoulder.

"I said I don't need your help."

"Yes, you do because it's either you come with me or you go with them because you can't fight them right now because you're too injured." The man yelled back. "So decide; come with me so I can treat your damn wounds or stay here and be tortured and killed or imprisoned. What's it going to be?"

"Damn Curlybrow," Zoro grumbled but gave in and didn't say anything else as the blonde helped him to supposed safety.

…

Ace was worried, which was why he was running down the dark alleys of the business - or silver collar - district towards the Thousand Sunny Bar. He was on his way back from an errand in a higher caste district when he'd heard about the fight his little brother had gotten into against Moria through gossip of a passing couple. He knew that he needed to get back to the lowest caste district soon, or there would be harsh consequences for not arriving to 'work' on time, yet he had to see if Luffy was alright.

Still, as he rounded the corner and the Sunny came into view, he saw something that made him skid to a halt and duck quickly into the closest alley. Damnit, he thought to himself, peeking out of the alley to see the two military personnel positioned not far outside the Sunny. He knew they were there to look out for him. He reached up to touch his iron collar and his chest hurt. It wasn't the collar he had started out with; he had started with a silver collar with a red stone - the same as what Luffy still wore. Garp had vouched for both of them to get them into the caste of the military, but after an incident in their childhood Ace was punished by having that collar revoked and being moved to the untouchable class.

Since then, Garp had decided that he should no longer associate with Luffy. He'd said that he would pull Luffy down to his caste as well. Ace had to agree that he didn't want Luffy to end up the same way that he had but he wouldn't ever do anything to cause that and tearing the two of them apart was unspeakably cruel. Who else did he have, besides Luffy? That thought would lead to darker ones, so Ace cut them off there.

Still, with the guards there, he knew he couldn't see Luffy tonight. He resolved to go home and speak with Zoro, Luffy's so called first mate, and Ace's housemate. He would be able to tell Ace what happened, as he often did since he and Luffy were so often being kept apart by Garp's intervention. He moved to cross the street again, trying to be careful and not to be noticed, but to no avail.

"Stop right there, Fire Fist Ace." One of the military men shouted causing Ace to take off running.

"Shit," Ace cursed and ran away from the two who seemed eager to pursue and catch him.

He knew these streets fairly well, not as well as the lowest class district, but often time 'work' had brought him here to where most of his clients resided. He was sure he knew the streets here better than the two behind him as he was quickly losing them with the twisted paths he was weaving within the thin alleys lined with apartment buildings. He was continually glancing behind him, he couldn't see them behind him anymore, but he could hear their boots not far away. He wasn't looking where he was going, too panicked about what was behind him. He didn't want to use his powers as using them on a military person could get him executed. He couldn't die; he had someone whom he had to protect, someone who could only rely on him.

"Watch out yoi," He heard a voice shout, only too late as he collided with another person's body.

He fell hard to the ground but his powers as a logia type protected him by allowing the parts of his body that collided with the ground to become fire, preventing any damage. He froze in shock for a second a sheets of paper fell around him and the other person. The other person, a man, had caught himself with his hand it seemed, but had allowed what he had been holding, a file full of paperwork, to fall in the process.

"That's going to be hard to reorganize, yoi." The man said with a speech tick at the end, as he slowly stood and faced Ace to reach out a hand. "Are you alright?"

"I, uh," Ace paused grasping the hand and being pulled to his feet.

His thoughts were interrupted by the pounding of footsteps one street away. Ace froze, terrified. The man turned his head towards the sound and then back to Ace all while still having their hands clasped together. He examined Ace and a flash of understanding seemed to cross his face. Ace's panic grew any he frantically tried to pull away

.

"I think he went this way," A voice said, very close even though its owner wasn't to be seen yet.

The man quickly grabbed Ace by the wrist and shoulder and Ace wanted to scream for him to let go. He was afraid this man would turn him over. Would he be thrown in jail? What did Garp want other than him staying away from Luffy? How far would he go to get that? Ace felt like he was going to hyperventilate when the man spoke quietly almost a whisper.

"Hide, yoi." The man commanded as he roughly pushed Ace into a nearby alley with a large dumpster in it.

Ace quickly ducked behind it despite his shock. He hid with his back leaning against the dumpster facing away from where the man was, now calmly picking up his scattered paperwork. The footsteps got louder until the voice of the military men could be heard coming from where he'd been standing just moments before.

"Sir, have you seen a young man with black hair run through here? We're in pursuit of a known criminal."

Ace held his breath placing a hand over his mouth, trying to be as quite as possible. His heart was beating so fast and so loud in his ears, he wondered if it would give him away. He squeezed his eyes shut waiting for the man's response. Would he really protect him? He had no real reason to believe the man he just met would. The man sighed.

"I only saw him long enough for him to destroy all the documents that I had organized, yoi." The man replied with a huff. "He went down that way and turned left. He was in a hurry didn't even apologize, yoi. You might want to hurry up if you want to catch him."

"Thank you sir, leave it to us."

The footsteps continued fading away. Ace didn't dare move until they were completely gone. The man had finished gathering his papers, though, he knew it would take some time for him to reorganize them again. He knew he should have stapled them instead of just putting them into a folder. The man looked up to meet Ace's eyes as he finally creeped out from behind the dumpster again. Ace rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Um, I'm sorry about your papers, and, uh," Ace bowed and said, "thank you for helping me."

The man shrugged and stood up, giving Ace a better look at him. His hair was a bright yellowish blonde and it was styled in a way that reminded Ace of the leaves of a pineapple. His eyebrows were arched high above his light sky blue eyes. He was wearing a very light violet dress shirt and light grey dress pants with black dress shoes. Yet what caught Ace's attention was the pure silver collar around his neck; the collar of the business class. Ace lowered his gaze wishing his own iron collar wasn't so obvious without anything to cover it.

"It's not that big of a deal, yoi." The man shrugged again and asked, "Why are they chasing you anyway? You don't seem like a terrible criminal."

The man's tone was light and teasing. Did he not see Ace's collar? Most people would've told him to stay away from them in disgust or worse called the guards back by now.

"Aren't all Untouchables criminals?" Ace asked drawing direct attention to the white elephant in the room as he reached up to touch his collar.

The man approached him, and even though his past experiences told him he should run, he didn't feel as if he were in danger. Maybe it was curiosity, maybe it was hope, but whatever it was, it had Ace firmly rooted in place. The man reached out a ruffled Ace's dark black, curly hair, which was revealed as his cowboy hat hung on his back. It was so gentle of an action, it nearly startled Ace.

"Only idiots believe that, yoi." The man said softly as he removed his hand from Ace's head. Their eyes mat and the man cleared his throat before continuing. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sorry about that again."

"It's fine, as long as neither of us is hurt." The man replied. "I'm Marco by the way." The man said extending his hand.

"Ace," Ace replied shaking the man's hand and feeling a little bit lighter than he had been before.

Ace smiled and then felt his eyes get heavy. No, not now, Ace thought as he fought to stay awake. He still had to get back to the lowest caste district, but he was starting to sway. He hadn't been getting enough sleep lately and it had obviously had repercussions on his narcolepsy, which always flared up at the worst moments.

Marco watched Ace sway and reached out to support his shoulder. He was worried that the younger man had lied about being fine. He tried to look into Ace's drooping eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay, yoi?" He asked in a concerned voice.

"I need to," Ace spoke languidly and with difficulty, "go."

Ace tried to move but he felt his legs give out and his eyes close. This wasn't a good time or a good place to sleep. He couldn't sleep, he couldn't be late, but he fell into deep sleep anyway unable to prevent it. He went limp.

Marco acted quickly to catch and then lower the other to the ground as he collapsed against his chest. He worried that the man had passed out and quickly laid the other down, face upwards. It was with great amusement that Marco realized what had actually happened.

"He's asleep, yoi." Marco marvel while wondering what he was going to do given the current situation.

…

 _ **Okie doke. I know it's basically going to be a retelling of the first few chapters, but I already feel as though I like this a lot better. For those of you wondering where Luffy and Law are don't worry they will be included soon. I'm super excited with this. I hope you all enjoyed it. I'd love to know how you guys like this if you've read the original CCL. See you very soon.**_

 _ **-LPC**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**This isn't edited because today is Ace's birthday and I wanted to publish it before midnight, so apologies.**_

 _ **...**_

After Zoro and the blond, got to his house, or as Zoro would explain it; his mansion, the blond helped Zoro onto a black leather couch in a modern style living room. There were a few decorations but nothing that overpowered the rest of the room, mostly it was much sparser than Zoro had thought it would be as a Celestial Dragon's residence. The blond quickly moved away from him down a hallway and returned with a large, if not slightly beaten up first aid kit. After being kicked off his feet by the blond, Zoro started to worry slightly about why the blond would have such a large and seemingly frequently used first aid kit. He was now inside the house of a Celestial Dragon that lawfully could attack, dismember, and murder him. He was thankful that he still had his three swords, just in case the blond did turn out to be just another evil member of his caste.

The blond smiled seeming harmless as he carried the first aid kit over to the coffee table that was in front of the couch Zoro was currently laying on. The blond cracked open the kit and Zoro almost groaned in annoyance. The kit was more than well stocked, and even had medical tools that Zoro didn't even know what they were but assumed they only were available usually at actual hospitals. Zoro wanted to groan even more at the fact that tools like those were never to be used on Untouchables like him. Untouchables were denied medical treatment even if they came to a hospital critically injured. Yet, here this blond Celestial Dragon had hospital grade equipment at his home.

Seeing Zoro glare at the kit the blond quickly explains, "My friend is a surgeon, he helps keep me stocked with this stuff."

"Couldn't you just walk into any hospital and demand that they give you the supplies," Zoro grumbled.

"I don't really like doing that," The blond replies. "If I need anything I just buy it, it's not like I don't have money and why mess up everyone else's lives like that. Law can just order the stuff for me legally if I pay for it."

"Law, is that your friend's name?" Zoro asks.

"Yes, oh," The blond came to a realization, "My name's Sanji by the way, I guess we didn't really get to exchanging names."

"No last name," Zoro questioned.

"I have one, I just don't like using it." Sanji said avoiding the question in a sense. "What about you?'

"Roanoa Zoro," Zoro responded. "I don't have any reason to hide mine. Should I be worried that you do?"

"I think you'd have a worse time with someone who was proud of that name." Sanji says. "Anyway, can't really see what's wrong with you like this, take off your shirt."

Zoro frowned. He glared at the blond and wanted to tell him to fuck off, but he silently reminded himself that there was no point in coming to this person's house if he was just going to reject his help. Zoro continued to glare at Sanji but did as he was told and took off his shirt revealing the numerous wound. Sanji hisses in sympathy.

"You have a lot of pretty deeps ones, you're definitely going to need some stitches." Sanji explains. "I'll put some ointment on it to numb the area, or would you rather just be given some pain killers I think I have some left over somewhere."

"I don't need it," Zoro huffed.

"Yeah, yeah," Sanji says rolling his eyes. "I'll at least put the ointment on it though."

Sanji just starts to open the jar of ointment when there's a knock on the door, he and Zoro exchange a panicked look. One of Zoro's hands reaches toward his swords but Sanji puts a hand out to stop him. Sanji shakes his head and waits for a person to speak it could be Law coming over to rest after a long shift, or it could be guards looking for the man in front of him.

"This is the Mariejois guard, we are looking for a known criminal that has snuck their way into the district. The trail of blood leads straight to your door. We are worried that you may be in grave danger please open the door."

"Because, of course they couldn't just mind their own damn business and leave," Sanji mutters.

Zoro wraps one hand around one of his swords and moves to get up but Sanji pushed him back down onto the couch. Zoro nearly growls at Sanji but Sanji shushes him.

"What are you doing?" Zoro snarls in a low tone.

"Just trust me if you try to fight them, you'll only end up dead, especially in your current condition." Sanji whispers. "And if they think you're threatening me into helping you it will be the same. Now the only way they are going to leave is if they think that I have the upper hand over you. Give me your swords and follow my lead."

"Fuck you," Zoro replies.

"What are you afraid of?" Sanji asks. "Do you think that I'm going to turn you over to them? If I wanted to do that I would've just left you outside. Do you think that if you give up your swords that I'll be more able to kill you than I am this second? I knocked you flat on your ass outside. I could kill you even if you have your swords. So, fucking trust me just this once, because without my help you will end up dead before the end of the night."

Zoro hesitates as the guard starts to pound incessantly on the door. He tries to clear his head and he stares into Sanji's blue eyes and attempts to figure out whether he's telling the truth or not. He hated this, it would be so much simpler if he could just kill all the guards and go the fuck home. He hated the Sanji's plan made more sense but above all else he hated that he had to rely on some weirdo he'd just met that was part of the exact caste that was known to house the worst of people. Zoro hesitates for a few seconds more glancing at the swords at his waist before finally handing them over to the blonde with a grumble.

"Give me a minute officers it's the middle of the night after all," Sanji shouts as he stashes Zoro's swords and the first aid kit in a nearby closet. He then whispers, "Lay back and look severely injured."

Zoro rolls his eyes but does as he's told. Sanji then runs to the kitchen to retrieve a knife and sets it on the coffee table in front of Zoro, which earns him a suspicious look. He shoots Zoro a look meaning trust me. Then he takes off his suit jacket and throws it on the floor with a frown and untucks his dress shirt before messing up his hair a little. He gives a little nod partially to himself and partially to Zoro and grabs the knife before moving over to the door and opening it.

"By what right do you lesser beings dare interrupt my night of fun?" Sanji asks the guards standing in his now open doorway in an annoyed and haughty tone while waving the knife he was holding towards them.

Zoro can see the guard's confidence quickly change to uneasiness and a slight touch of fear as Sanji leans towards them with the knife, menacingly, seemingly completely like another insane member of his caste. Zoro feels like smacking himself in the forehead for not seeing what game Sanji was playing earlier. All he had to do was act like a prisoner to a crazy Celestial Dragon and the guards would leave fairly easily. No guard in their right mind would try to stop a Celestial Dragon from torturing an Untouchable.

"We're sorry sir we were tracking a known criminal, we believe his blood trail leads straight to your door, so we have an obligation to check on your safety." One guard said.

"What is it with you people?" Sanji complained loudly. "You can't even do your damn job without interfering with my fun. I should have a word with your commander." The guard made to speak again but Sanji cut him off, "Fine, fine, come on in, I guess I should show off my handy work every now and again."

Sanji stepped aside to let them through to see where Zoro laid seemingly critically injured on the couch all the while Sanji walked behind them twirling the knife in his hand ominously. The guards' eyes widened when they saw Zoro.

"That's the criminal we've been tracking Roanoa Zoro," One guard said lowly.

"And your point is?" Sanji asked once again sounding very annoyed. "If you think for a fucking second that I'm letting you take my fun away you've got another thing coming."

"Sir, he's highly dangerous, he may try to attack you."

Sanji let out a highly terrifying laugh and the guard that spoke flinched in response. Sanji then strutted past the guards and sat right on top of Zoro's chest, which caused him to sharply intake breath, before Sanji put the knife to his throat.

"So dangerous," Sanji mocked with an eye roll before standing up and once again redirecting the knife towards the guards. "I'll have to admit it was a fun hunt, took me quite some time. Didn't you all see my masterpiece on the way here? All that blood and yet we were only getting to the fun part when you lot interrupted."

"You mean that it was you who did that?"

"Who else could it have been," Sanji scoffed.

"Right," The officer responded stiffly, "well if you'd like we can lock him up or have him executed when you're finished, we often provide this service for esteemed members of society such as yourself."

"There will be no need," Sanji replied. "I like to take my time with things like this, I like to completely break them first; they are mere animals after all. I'll call on you should the need arise though."

"Of course," The guard bowed, "We'll be on our way now, please forgive us for the intrusion."

Sanji made a little huff of indignation as he watched the guards leave in a hurry. They seemed eager to get away from him and he couldn't really blame them after what he'd just said he'd done. Still, as quickly as the door shut behind him Sanji let out a sigh of relief and exhaustion.

"That was terrifying," Sanji admitted.

"Yeah, but for who," Zoro asked, "and warn me next time you're going to put a knife to my throat I know it's an act but you're scary good at it."

"I guess that's what happens when you grow up around scary people." Sanji said looking down. "Anyway let me put this away and get your swords and then we can get back to treating those injuries okay."

"I'm not so sure I want you treating me anymore," Zoro joked with a sardonic smirk.

"Hah, like you have a choice." Sanji jested.

"Che, just wait till I'm fully healed twirl-brows then you'll be the one needing treatment." Zoro replied.

"Big words coming from someone who looks like he's about to pass out from blood loss, Marimo."

…

Ace wakes with a start in an unfamiliar place, but with an all too familiar feeling of fear. He could remember times like this, after all some clients thought it was entertaining to dose him and he wasn't allowed to refuse them. He had once gotten punished for just that, and then that was an even worse kind of torment. He needs to calm himself; he tries to remember what he was doing before he fell asleep. He remembered talking to Marco after having escaped the military with his help.

He rose to see Marco across the room sitting at a desk rearranging, what Ace could assume, where the papers from his briefcase. Marco seemed so focused that Ace wasn't sure that he heard or noticed his awakening. Ace made to open his mouth, but then Marco spoke up first.

"I was worried when you suddenly passed out in the alley, before I realized you were sleeping, yoi." Marco said. "Are you feeling alright? Narcolepsy as sudden as yours must be hard to live with, especially since the military seems very interested in you, yoi."

"I'm alright," Ace responded. "I'm used to it by now, it's always waking up that scares me because it's not always where I fell asleep."

Marco chuckled, "If I left you where you fell asleep the guards might have taken you to a very different place that you probably would have liked much less than you like being here, yoi. This is my apartment, by the way."

"Thank you," Ace said gratefully bowing his head slightly to show respect.

Ace wondered where he would have ended up if Garp's men ever did capture him. Would he awake in chains in prison or jail where he would rot for the rest of his life while everything he cared about was ripped away from him? He shivered, even though he was never cold.

"How long did I sleep?" Ace asked.

Ace knew that it had been close to the time he would have had to been at work when he fell asleep. He hoped that he didn't sleep long, but given that Marco had time to take him back to his apartment, he doubted that was the case. His heart sank and fear coiled in his stomach; he knew the punishment for being late. It was the reason he could only sleep when the sun was out or if all the lights were on.

"A little over a couple hours," Marco replied.

"Shit," Ace cursed, as the fear grew. "Sorry, thank you for helping me, but I need to go. I was supposed to be at work an hour and a half ago. Where exactly am I? I need to get back to the lowest caste district."

"We're on East Third Street near Willow Street, do you know how to get back from here, yoi?"

"No, the closest I've ever been to hear is Main Street." Ace said having never had clients that lived in this area. "But I'll have to try."

"There's no need for you to go wandering off aimlessly, yoi." Marco argued standing from his desk. "I'll see you back, if you'd like."

"No, it's alright, I don't want to trouble you any more than I already have." Ace rejected.

"It's no trouble, I," Marco started to say, when a fist pounding on his door interrupted him.

"MARCO, OPEN THE DOOR," A voice yelled raucously.

"Damn it Thatch," Marco curse quietly before responding, "I told you I don't have time to babysit you two tonight, yoi."

Marco walked over and opened the door, causing two men to tumble into the room. They must have been leaning on the door, Ace thought. One was wearing makeup and a kimono and the other had a pompadour and wore chefs clothing, both looked quite drunk for it being so early in the evening. They laughed from the floor while Marco gazed down at them in an exasperated manner.

"This is exactly why everyone calls you the mother hen of our family, Marco." The man with the pompadour said getting up and helping the other man do the same.

"Thatch, Izou, I told you both that I couldn't go out with you tonight, yoi." Marco explained in an annoyed tone. "If you want someone to carry you home while you two are in a drunken stupor, you'll have to find someone else."

"You don't need to carry us home if we just spend the night." Izou retorted.

"I don't want you here while I'm trying to work, yoi. You'll only try to distract me and then I'll get none of what I need to get done, done." Marco argued.

"Oh yeah," Thatch responded in a load voice, "then why is he allowed to be here," Thatch questioned pointing at Ace.

Ace nearly jumped out of his skin, but then froze not knowing what to do or say. Would these two share Marco's view on his collar or would they be less accepting and more willing to turn him in. He felt himself take a step back.

"Huh, who is he?" Izou asked looking back and forth between Ace and Marco, "And what's he doing here? He isn't anyone we know? Are you hiding things from us now?"

"This is why you shouldn't drink so much Izou, you get so paranoid, yoi." Marco said shaking his head. "His name is Ace, I met him today, and he's here because of unavoidable circumstances. Also, I was about to escort him home, yoi."

"Well while you escort him home, maybe Izou and I will escort ourselves to that liquor we all know you're hiding somewhere in here." Thatch threatens with a smile trying to slide past Marco.

Ace can see the annoyance growing into anger on Marco's face. But then Marco smiles, but not in a friendly manner and Ace could almost feel the air grow slightly warmer. Ace tilts his head in confusion as Marcos eyes narrow and he takes one step towards Thatch and speaks a jovial yet intimidating voice.

"Be careful, yoi," Marco says looking into Thatch's eyes, "You sometimes forget why Oyaji puts me in charge when you're drunk. They say alcohol does often give idiots more courage than they should possess for his own good, yoi."

Ace sees Thatch and Izou share a look, a very drunken look. Ace took another step back before Thatch's voice called out loudly again.

"Attack," Thatch shouted nearly joyously.

Ace watched as the other two men lunged at Marco, who just seemed to sigh in response, for a second at least. Then Marco quickly slid between both the other and quickly elbowed Thatch in the side and then threw him to the ground. Izou tried to attack Marco while his back was turned because of Thatch, but then Marco turned and grabbed his arm and flipped him so that he landed on top of Thatch. Marco then planted his foot on top of them and sighed once again.

"It seems to me that whenever you two get drunk, you come up with the stupid idea to antagonize me, yoi." Marco said leaning his weight onto them causing the two men beneath the groan. "On another night I might have played around and let you, for a while, but tonight I don't have the time or the patience, yoi. So here's what's going to happen; I'm going to let you up and you are going to leave until at least tomorrow night, when I'd be more than happy to entertain you, understand?"

"Yes sir," Thatch squeaked and Marco removed his foot causing them both to gasp for air.

"I swear sometimes you have no sense of humor," Izou finally said after his breathing had returned to normal and Marco was ushering everyone out the door.

"Exactly why I'm in charge, yoi." Marco responded, "Ace are you ready to go?"

"I was ready before everyone started fighting." Ace reminded with a shrug.

"Yeah, sorry about that they get out of control sometimes, yoi."

"Hey, we're still here!" Thatch shouted.

"Go to a bar then, yoi." Marco said with a chuckle.

"Screw you Marco," Izou huffed but still took Thatch by the arm and steered him away from Ace and Marco.

As they finally disappeared around a corner Ace asked, "Who were those people?"

"They're my brothers, two of them anyway, yoi." Marco explained as he started to lead the way back to the lowest caste district.

"How many do you have?" Ace asked, trying to make polite conversation to distract himself from his growing sense of dread while they made their way to his destination.

"I have fifteen close siblings but thousands really." Marco tried to explain. "It's a really large family, but we aren't related by blood if that's what you're wondering, yoi."

"I have a brother and we're not related by blood either so I understand that." Ace replied.

Small talk seemed to come easily to them, Ace found. Marco had a relaxed nature and he answered the questions that Ace asked with an unguarded expression. Back at the apartment Ace had seen that the man walking next to him was strong and knew how to be intimidating when he needed to be, but he didn't seem at all to be intimidating now as they talked. But it was strange, Ace thought, that someone who could be so intimidating was so accepting of his caste. It was strange to find someone who was strong who didn't prey upon those weaker than them. It was what their society seemed to run on, the strong or more fortunate took everything they could from those below them. He wished more people were like Marco, but he knew the people awaiting him where they were going wouldn't be.

…

It was a few hours after Sanji had finished stitching him up that Zoro awoke from a light sleep to another set of knocks on the door. They weren't as loud or as angry as the knocks of the guards had been more or less light taps rather than knocks but it seemed enough to rouse Sanji who had already retired to another room to sleep.

"Sanji-ya, I'm starving, open the door." A voice whined sarcastically from outside.

"Shit, Law do you know what time it is," Sanji grumbled as he strode across the living room to open the door for his friend.

"Hopefully, breakfast time," Law replied with a smirk as the door swung open to let him in. "I happen to know a very talented cook."

Sanji only had time to scoff and roll his eyes dramatically before Law threw himself at Sanji and cuddled into his neck. Sanji wrapped his arms around his best friend with a huff. He had gotten use to the physical contact that was constant between them, although it hadn't always been that way. Sanji understood now that the clinginess Law exhibited around him was his way of showing that he trusted him. He never did this with anyone else, and Sanji didn't blame him, given his reasons and what he'd experienced. Sanji, had taken it upon himself in a way to give Law whatever comfort he needed that he couldn't or wouldn't get from anyone else.

"You do understand that unlike you, I do need sleep right?" Sanji asked in jest. "Not everyone can subsist on coffee and rice."

"Yes, but I also know you won't turn away someone who's hungry," Law responded snuggling as close to Sanji as he could. "And your bed is super comfy and I know you don't have the heart to deny me that either. Even I need sleep sometimes and I get the best sleep here."

"On my bed," Sanji grumbled, but sighed in defeat. "I guess I could whip something up quickly."

"That's exactly why I love you Sanji-ya."

Zoro watched the scene unfold with a frown on his face and he didn't know quite what to think of it. He knew that Sanji had said that Law was his friend but watching the scene unfold he had to wonder if they weren't lovers. He watched the two of them have a full conversation while Law seemed most interested in become as physically close to the blond as he could get while they were clothed. But something else stood out to him in the conversation and that was the word cook.

Luffy constantly complained that with all their crewmember they were still missing the most important one; a cook. Yet, the blondie's cooking skills had yet to be seen and he'd only just heard about it from a guy that looked less than trustworthy and seemed to be especially fond of said blondie. Zoro smirked to himself. He needed to figure out more about the blonde he decided, and he had the perfect chance. It's not like he could leave easily anyway, so it wouldn't be terrible to do some investigating while he was here. He could already hear Luffy asking the blonde to join there crew in his loud and excited voice with his mouth watering at the thought of food.

"You're a cook, Curlycue?" Zoro asked with a snort. "I would've thought a Celestial Dragon would think such things were below him."

Sanji froze as if remembering something unpleasant, but Law's eyes immediately snapped to him and narrowed dangerously. It was then that Zoro really saw and focused on the other man. He was wearing a long black coat with a yellow face-like symbol on it. He had a goatee and short black hair. Zoro then saw that he was carrying a sword on his hip, and the way he was staring made Zoro realize that he might be mere seconds from using and Zoro wasn't in near good enough condition to fight well if Law was proficient in wielding it.

"Who the fuck are you?" Law snarled going to reach for his blade.

Zoro started to reach for his swords as well when Sanji stepped between them and shook his head. Law looked even more enraged than he originally looked but then his eyes started to glisten as well. Law focused his eyes back at Sanji, and they softened slightly, it was then that Sanji spoke.

"Law, it's ok, calm down, he's not going to hurt me, so just breath alright, let go of the sword." Sanji spoke softly holding out his hands slowly reaching towards Law, trying to calm him.

"How do you know that?" Laws shouted with tears trying to form in his eyes but he pushed them back. "The last person that you tried to let in didn't seem like a threat either, but then he turned on you once he had the chance. Sanji, you can't trust people so easily like that they'll take advantage of you at every turn."

"Law, he's not Gin." Sanji said sadly. "Do you want me to turn away everyone I encounter that needs help just because of one bad experience? I can't just ignore people that are in need just because I might be hurt at some point or another by them."

"How much do you know about him?" Law questioned. "Did you even do any investigating before you invited him into your house? You didn't even take away his weapons, he could've tried to cut your throat before I got here."

"He didn't," Sanji argued in a small voice still trying to calm his troubled companion. "You're right I don't know him, but neither do you and we can't blame him for something he had nothing to do with. He can't kill me right now, he's seriously injured. Once he's healed enough to leave then he'll leave but we can't throw him out on the street as he is right now when we know what the guards would do to him."

"Let's take him to the gates of Mariejois then, it's not safe to keep him here." Law retorted.

"We'll take him back once he's well enough." Sanji reiterated. "He can't hurt me now and we don't have any reason to think that he would."

"We don't have any reason to trust him either but it seems you're already halfway there."

"I understand why you don't want anyone that you don't know close to me but I'm not weak." Sanji argued seeming now to be getting more annoyed as the conversation was starting to go around in circles. "I'm more that capable of protecting myself from some stray marimo whether he's injured or not, and like I said he'll leave once he's healed. He doesn't want to be here anymore than you want him here."

Law took a deep breath and removed his hand from his sword. He glanced back to Zoro and Zoro knew that Law still didn't trust him. But Law crossed his arms and seemed to give up on killing Zoro for at least the time being.

"Fine," Law huffed. "However if he's staying then I am too. I'm not making the same mistake twice and I'm not about to let you make it twice either."

"If that's what you want then that's fine." Sanji agrees. "Maybe you could look at his wounds then I did my best but you're the surgeon and I'm the cook."

"I don't think so shit-cook there is no way I'm letting that raccoon anywhere near me much less with anything sharp." Zoro interjected.

"Raccoon," Law seethed angrily. "This might be his house but you should be careful who you call names even as a guest here. I'm not as trusting and I'm more than willing to remove your limbs if it would teach you a lesson."

"Oi, would you two try to get along while I make food." Sanji remarked in annoyance. "I'm nervous about leaving you two alone as it is and I can't be constantly worrying about someone getting disemboweled in my living room."

"I promise I will not disembowel our guest unless it proves necessary." Law promised while giving Zoro a malicious smirk that made Zoro wonder if he was lying.

…

Ace knew that they were getting close to the lowest caste district since the buildings were getting to be more and more familiar. His nerves were getting worse but the conversation had been going well, but then Marco asked the question that Ace had been hoping he wouldn't ask.

"So what do you do at your work, yoi?" Marco asked innocently enough.

Ace felt himself jump a little and shame made him grow a little bit colder. He'd hoped for a minute that Marco wouldn't ask and that maybe they could part ways in a friendly manner, or even as actual friends. Ace knew that he could use some. However he knew if he answered that question that they most likely they would not. Few people wanted to be friends with prostitutes. He wondered if he should avoid the question or just get it over with.

Ace wasn't the best at lying, he never was. There was only one lie that he hadn't been caught in and it was a lie he had to tell to keep someone he loved alive. However telling the truth had its own consequences. There were only so many outcomes that would be possible if Ace told the truth. Marco could accept it just as easily as he'd accepted his collar, but that seemed extremely unlikely. He could completely reject Ace because of it, even to the point to try to hurt him, as some people felt the need to do. But what Ace feared the most was if Marco accepted it but by means of becoming a client of his. Ace wanted to be friends with him, it would be extremely painful if he then used him the same way everyone else did.

"I don't want to talk about it," Ace replied trying to dodge the question.

"Are you afraid, yoi?" Marco inquired. "You think that if you tell me what you do I'll think less of you, and you're ashamed of it. Don't underestimate me, yoi. I'm not terrible as you might fear but I'm not blind either."

"You're saying I should trust you but we just met. How am I supposed to know what you'll do if I don't know you?" Ace questioned.

"Have I disappointed you yet, yoi?" Marco chuckled with the question.

"Not yet," Ace huffed with a roll of the eyes, "but it's not even been a day yet."

"True enough," Marco shrugged, "that doesn't mean I'm not trustworthy though. MY borther's trust me with secrets all the time, yoi."

"The same brothers you beat up at your apartment?" Ace asked with a small smile breaking on his face.

"Sometimes," Marco replied with a large and playful grin. "They trust me with many things when they're not drunk. You might find that I'm very dependable, yoi."

"You're very strange," Ace remarked.

Marco laughed and slapped Ace on the back. He seemed nearly carefree compared to how he seemed back at the apartment when he seemed to be serious and only focused on his work. Ace didn't quite know what to think of him.

"I'm only rough with them when I have to be, sometimes brothers have to fight and they feel like it's a game to provoke me, but I think it's out of concern that they do it rather than just to annoy me." Marco explained. "They know that I get too serious at times so they try to give me opportunities to let off steam, yoi. I won't tell them how much it helps though, it might inflate their egos too much."

"Yeah, I suppose I can understand that." Ace continued, "Isn't it kind of exhausting to be the one everyone depends on all the time though?"

"You said you had a brother right?" Marco asked. "Is he younger or older than you, yoi?"

"He's younger than me," Ace answered.

"He depend on you doesn't he.?" Marco asked.

Ace paused and he knew that his mind was about to go down a dark path. Luffy didn't depend on him as much as he used to since Garp was so determined to keep the two of them apart, but then Ace's had lied when he said he had one brother. It was the only lie he'd been able to keep telling over and over without being caught. Sabo, he always felt like he would just shut down when he thought about where his brother was, and how he'd gotten there. Sabo could only depend on him, he was the reason Ace kept on living even though there were times, many times, when he thought he would much rather die.

"Yes," Ace answered softly, almost brokenly.

Marco must have been able to sense his dark emotions because he reached out and ruffled Ace's hair again. His hand slowed and Ace met Marco's sky blue eyes, they were shining with sympathy.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say anything upsetting, yoi."

"It's not your fault you couldn't have known." Ace said.

The laughter sounded so dark and unwelcome that Ace froze as stiff as stone while Marco's hand dropped from his head. Marco's neck almost seemed to snap in the direction the laughter came from and his eyes narrowed into seething slits as the man known as Blackbeard stepped forward to meet them. Marco shifted his weight so that he stood in a balanced position almost seeming to be ready for a fight to break out. Ace didn't dare meet Blackbeard's eyes but kept his eyes lowered. He nearly wanted to hide himself behind Marco, but he knew that he couldn't not if he wanted Sabo to be safe.

"You two look close," Teach chuckled darkly, "although I'm surprised, I wouldn't have expected you to be so late, Ace. I certainly wouldn't have expected you to come back with my old comrade Marco on your arm either. How have you been Marco, better than Thatch I'd surmise?"

"I'd suggest you keep his name from your mouth, yoi. However, unfortunately for you, both Thatch and I are doing quite well. We've been looking for you actually, yoi. What rock have you been hiding under I wonder." Marco spoke with a practiced calm, but underneath Ace could tell he wanted Teach to just give him a reason to attack.

"I take it you've still not forgiven me, a shame really." Teach said all with a smile.

"You've earned no forgiveness and you never will, yoi." Marco replied seeming still calm but his eyes glanced here and there checking for other enemies. He had never known Teach to be a careless man, but perhaps his cruelly acquired powers gave him more confidence than he should have by right, especially in Marco's presence. "You nearly killed a member of your own family; you're a traitor."

"The rag-tag group of misfits is what you call a family, but there's no blood shared between its members." Teach seemed to chide with a smile still in place. "If he'd just handed over the fruit, perhaps I wouldn't have had to stab him. He got in my way, so it couldn't be helped."

"He was your brother by oath, even if not by blood, yoi." Marco reminded. "You'll have to answer for it soon, now that I've found you."

Teach laughed, "Answer for it? You're always so protective of everyone, the guardian of everyone, the one people rely on in the family. The man you all call Oyaji may be the heart of your so called family but you're the mind, the backbone. Don't you tire of it? You could be a great power in the world if you weren't carrying everyone else's burdens. Have you ever thought of leaving your troublesome family for something greater?"

"I would never abandon my family, yoi." Marco held himself back making himself sound calm when he wanted to scream. "I'm not a traitorous bastard like you. If you really thought you could convince me to betray them you'll be sadly mistaken. I wonder what Oyaji will have me do about you, yoi. I hope he'll let Thatch decide how you die, it would be fitting, yoi."

"I'd think you'd know better than to challenge a man in his own territory." Teach chuckled as a few guns poked out around the edges of buildings, as Marco had expected. "I guess we'll have to delay our little tiff for a later date wouldn't you agree."

"I'd think you'd know better than to threaten me with mere guns, yoi." Marco countered. "You know as well as I do that they won't work."

"They have kairouseki bullets, but even then they might still do nothing against you," Teach laughed and then continued, "but who said they were aiming at you?"

Ace gasped a choked breath when he realized exactly where the guns were pointed; straight at him. He panicked for a brief moment. He couldn't die he told himself over and over. What would happen to Sabo if he died? Would he ever be free then? Would Luffy ever be able to know that he was alive? Or would the lie become truth that Ace fate would seal his as well. Ace wanted to scream to do anything to make it stop, but Marco gripped his arm and pulled him back into reality.

"Fine, yoi," Marco conceded, doubting he could protect both himself and Ace, he would simply have to bide his time. "Don't think this means I'll forget, yoi. This is just a delay."

"I couldn't agree more," Teach chuckled, "be on your way then. Ace stays, he's my employee after all."

Marco shot Teach a glare but back away one step at a time, not turning so that he could keep an eye on would be enemies around him. Then he jump backwards quickly and powerfully landing on a nearby rooftop. There was a flash of blue and he was gone, leaving Ace to wonder what the flash of color was.

After he was gone Teach started to talk again, "Ace, it appears I've underestimated you quite a bit, come we have a lot to talk about."

Ace didn't want to go to him, but he knew that he had to so he approached Teach to have an arm wrapped around his shoulders unexpectedly. Ace tensed and then immediately made himself relax so as not to offend the man beside him.

"Do you have any idea who that man you were walking with was?" Teach asked smiling but serious as he led them through the streets.

"No, not really, his name is Marco." Ace replied and Teach laughed.

"He's one of the most dangerous people in this town." Teach explained. "Have you ever heard of the Whitebeard Rebels? There one of the four strongest rebel groups in this society. Whitebeard is one of the four emperors and Marco is his right hand man. He's extremely strong and damn near immortal. Do you have any idea how insane it is that you happened upon him and to have him take an interest in you?"

"Not exactly," Ace admitted not knowing what Teach was wanting from him.

"Have you thought about your future Ace?" Teach asked without a shred of laughter for once. "What is it that you want?"

"I," Ace trailed of he wasn't sure if he should say what he was thinking.

He wanted freedom, for his brother and for him, but he didn't dare say that to Teach. Teach was the one who controlled everything Ace did, because he was the one who had Sabo, held captive in a place that Ace couldn't hope to rescue him from. He didn't dare say anything.

"You think I'm tricking you, oh Ace." Teach chided with a grin. "Not this time, I know what you want. You want your brother and your freedom, yes? The question is what would you be willing to do for that?"

"What do you mean?" Ace questioned in response still hazy as to what Teach was saying.

"I'm saying let's make a deal, a trade of sorts, I'll give you your brother and your freedom but you need to do something for me first."

Ace's heart nearly came to a halt and he stopped in his tracks and stare at Teach in shock. He wasn't sure if he could even allow himself to hope that Teach was being honest with him. What he was offering was all that Ace ever wanted since the first day that Sabo had been taken captive. Could he even dare to dream that it was possible?

Surely the task that he'd have to accomplish would be something horrible. Ace knew that he was selling his should to the devil himself if he made it, but, even if it was just Sabo's freedom and not his, he'd still have to make it.

"What do you want me to do?" Ace asked knowing he'd not like the answer.

"I need to bring down Whitebeard, but Marco is an obstacle. An obstacle that seems to be interested in you in one way or another." Teach explained. "You might have a golden opportunity that will never come again to anyone else. You could get close to him, beyond the barriers he keeps around him."

"You want me to become friends with Marco?" Ace questioned to Teach's humor.

"No, Ace I want you to get close to him, but that's just the first step. What I really want is for you to kill him." Teach answered and sent a chill down Ace's spine.

Ace hesitated, he wasn't sure if he could do such a thing. To kill someone who had meant him no harm, he wasn't sure he could do it. The thought of it alone made him sick and his mouth went dry as he was unable to answer.

Teach's eyes turned into slits, "then again, maybe you prefer your brother in chains getting closer to insanity or death every day, perhaps you like to sell your body to any pervert that can afford it. IF that's the case I'm sure I can hasten your brother's decent into madness or death and I'm certain there's always more clients to be found somewhere for someone like you."

Ace's hesitation was obliterated in mere seconds. Even if it meant killing someone who was innocent, even if it meant his own well-being would be at risk, he had to do it, for Sabo if for nothing else.

"I'll do it," Ace nearly shouted, making sure Teach knew his intention before he did the things he threatened to do.

"Good," was Teach's only reply.

 ** _..._**

 ** _Okay sorry about the long wait, I have been super busy but I'm still not giving up! If you are wondering about Existence it will be updated soon as well. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and have a great New Year!_**


	3. Chapter 3

present: _past_

...

Sanji woke up as he did every time Law would stay over; with his best friend wrapped around him like he was a body pillow and too warm for comfort. He looked over at the digital clock on his nightstand and saw that it was still in the dark hours of the morning, but he also knew that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep like this. Being too hot made him have dreams he'd much rather avoid. So, it would be better if he got up and distracted himself with something, and cooking was always his favorite past-time. He remembered a new sushi recipe he wanted to try and decided that since he would just lay in bed otherwise, he might as well get up and try it out.

The hard part would be getting free from Law without waking him. Then again, Sanji was an expert at it by now, since this had begun when they were both very young. Law seemed extremely exhausted yesterday, so Sanji thought that he probably stood a good chance of getting free without waking him. Still Law had both arms wrapped around him and one leg haphazardly thrown over his and his face buried in Sanji's chest. So Sanji knew it wouldn't be easy.

Sanji slowly shifted just a few inches away from Law moving one limb off of him at a time. Law grumbled and tried to move them back again but Sanji gentling held them back. Then he reached behind him to where one of his pillows had ended up during his sleep and slowly moved it between him and Law. Law immediately flung his arms around the pillow barely missing hitting Sanji's face in the process. Sanji was slightly annoyed but just rolled his eyes. He was finally able to back the rest of the way towards the edge of the bed and get up. He quickly grabbed clothes and went into the bathroom to change when he heard his name being said behind him. He surmised that he had accidently awoken Law, until he heard heard him mummer in his sleep again.

"Sanji-ya, no bread," He muttered still asleep clinging to the pillow with his face in a frown.

Sanji made a deadpan expression before heading into the bathroom. As he showered and got ready he thought about Law and his sleep talking. He sighed to himself as he remembered when Law would scream rather than speak in his sleep. He was thankful that all that was on Law subconscious mind now seemed to be his own mundane annoyances instead of terrible memories. However he also knew exactly why Law would frequently come to his house to sleep.

There were still nights where Sanji would wake up to see Law in a corner of the room reliving things that would be better left forgotten. He wasn't entirely Law then it seemed to Sanji, just a child a very scared very mistrusting child. Sanji was the only one that could calm him during these time, most of the time without having Law attack him, but not always. Sometimes it would take a long time just to convince Law of who he was and even longer to convince him that he was safe now. However even when things got to be their worst having Law finally fall asleep peacefully in his arms made it worth it.

Although lately Law woke up with different fears, since Sanji's run in with Don Krieg and what had happened with Gin. Ever since Sanji had walked out of that burning factory with blood staining his shoes and tears in his eyes, Law was even more worried just not about himself but rather about Sanji and his propensity to trust those who didn't deserve it. He had not doubt that Zoro wouldn't help that matter but rather would only make it worse. Not because Sanji believed that he had bad intentions but rather because Law would not allow anyone to get close to Sanji again.

Sanji finished getting ready and took one last look at his friend asleep in his bed before heading out to his kitchen. However, when he made to walk past the living room he felt eyes on him and sensed that his guest wasn't asleep any longer.

"Couldn't sleep Marimo?" Sanji asked in a whisper still not wanting to wake Law even though he knew his voice probably wouldn't from out here.

"It's stupid to sleep at night where I'm from." Zoro responded. "I sleep during the day. It's the best way to prevent being attacked."

"You mean you stay awake at night because in your district you're likely to get attacked more at night. Are the lower districts really that unsafe?" Sanji questioned.

"I guess a Celestial Dragon like you wouldn't get it, would you Curly-Que?" Zoro responded slightly annoyed. "Your house is as big as entire blocks in my district. There's not enough space for everyone. There's not enough food or clean water for everyone. People get desperate and desperate people attack others who have their guard down."

Sanji wanted to get annoyed. It wasn't that he didn't understand the plights of those who were worse off than him. He was trying to understand by asking the question but Zoro seemed to have taken it as a sort of insult instead. However, Sanji would pick something different to be angry about later he didn't think this subject was one he should start an argument about.

"It didn't mean it in a bad way," Sanji sighed. "I wasn't trying to downplay your experiences."

"Sure," Zoro said with a shrug and Sanji was unsure if Zoro actually believed him. "Where's your friend?"

"Still asleep," Sanji replied somewhat grateful that the subject had changed. "He'll probably sleep until late in the afternoon I don't think he's slept that last few days other than a few short naps."

"So, are you going to tell me what all of that was about yesterday with him wanting to murder me as soon as he saw me or not?" Zoro asked in a deep voice. "Or is this some good cop bad cop thing where you'll be nice and convince me to stay so he can kill me later. He seemed pretty pissed I was here."

Sanji's hand twitched; he really needed a smoke if he was going to get into this discussion and some part of him knew that he really shouldn't. He knew Law would be even more pissed at him if he told Zoro about what happened with Krieg but he also thought that Zoro should have some sort of explanation for what had happened. He walked over to the table by the door and grabbed a cigarette out of his pack that he had left there and lit it. He took a deep drag before letting it go in a long sigh before refocusing on the conversation at hand.

"He's worried you'll turn out to be like the last person I tried to help." Sanji stated to explain and Zoro nodded showing that he had his attention. "His name was Gin, I found him one day outside the restaurant I work at. He was emaciated and starving and, even though the Geezer said not to, I gave him some food anyway. He ended up here while he was getting back on his feet and trying to help his captain and their crew apparently. We became close, probably too close." Sanji took a deep breath. "I thought that he was someone I could trust but I didn't know what was going on with his crew or what they were planning. I should have realized that Gin was acting weird. I should have seen it coming but I didn't because I thought Gin would never betray me."

…

 _Gin and Sanji walked through the streets at dusk with Gin leading and Sanji staying close but not too close. Gin had said it would look weird for a Celestial Dragon to be walking side by side with an untouchable. He said he didn't want to cause troubled for Sanji, but Sanji couldn't have said that he really cared what most people would think. It was also strange that Gin would refuse to meet his eyes or speak to him until they were off of the main roads, but Sanji had shrugged it off and figured that if Gin felt he needed to do that then Sanji would just let him._

 _The sun was nearly setting when they made their way into one of the bronze districts where most of the factories were and the unskilled workers would work and live. Finally, Gin waved him up to walk beside him and Sanji jogged a bit to catch up. Once he was beside Gin he shot him a smile but only got a timid smirk as a response, something felt wrong but he ignored it. He thought maybe Gin was just nervous about introducing him to his captain._

 _"So, is there anything you can tell me about your captain?" Sanji asked making conversation. "You seem pretty dedicated to him, so he must be kinda impressive right?"_

 _"There's no kinda about it." Gin scoffed and crossed his arms but eventually relaxed a little from their walk. "He's the strongest guy I know."_

 _"I see," Sanji replied. "Is that why you're so loyal to him?"_

 _"Part of it I guess," Gin explained, "But also not just because he's my captain. He'd never known defeat, until…"_

 _Gin left off there and Sanji wondered if he should press the issue or just let it go. It seemed like a little bit of a touchy subject. Gin had said that their crew was in a state of turmoil in the moment and that was the reason why Sanji had found him the way he had._

 _"You don't have to say it if you don't want to." Sanji offered._

 _"Have you ever heard of Dracule Mihawk?" Gin questioned._

 _"Yeah he's one of the Shichibukai right? The rebels that work for the government now as the seven warlords." Sanji answered. "He's known as the world's best swordsman."_

 _"Yeah," Gin nodded in affirmation, "We had a run in with that guy. He collapsed the building that was our headquarters in a single slash."_

 _"That's why you've been having some trouble?" Sanji guessed slightly in surprise that Gin had encountered such a person and lived to tell the tale and pulled out a cigarette to smoke._

 _"Yeah and Krieg wants to rebuild and go after him again. He just can't accept that he was defeated, since he never has been in any other battle." Gin explained. "He wants to talk to you because I told him what you had done for me and he's hoping that you could help everyone else out too. It would be a good thing for us to have someone in your position, he'd said."_

 _"He means because I'm a Celestial Dragon right?" Sanji questioned touching his collar absentmindedly._

 _"I can't say that's not right but it does sound worse when you put it that way." Gin admitted._

 _"Well, you trust him and believe in him so I guess that I can trust that." Sanji replied with a shrug._

 _Gin nodded but then grabbed Sanji's arm and pointed to the warehouse just across the street. Sanji turned to look and it was obvious to him that Gin and his crewmates were in bad straights if that building was their base of operations. It was a crumbling structure and it looked as if it had been abandoned quite some time ago. The holes in the walls were patched with crude materials. Sanji doubted such a building would be capable of surviving a strong storm let alone if someone had attacked them._

 _"Well that's home, for the minute anyway." Gin spoke in a slightly embarrassed tone but Sanji tried to shoot him a reassuring smile. "Sorry if it's not up to your standards."_

 _"Home isn't really about looks, it's about the people that live there right?" Sanji responded._

 _"Yeah," Gin said with a nod. "We better get in there I'm sure the boss is anxious to meet you."_

 _Sanji nodded and they headed towards the decrepit building. Sanji's hair seemed to stand on end as he followed Gin inside. It felt like something was off like he could sense some kind of bad intent in the air around him. After entering through the large metal sliding door Sanji and Gin were surrounded by Gin's fellow crew members and Sanji's spine was tingling. He looked over at Gin to ask what was up with the atmosphere, however Gin just shrugged in response._

 _Sanji focused on the people he was in front of as Gin bowed to a man with purple hair wearing large golden armor. The man was tall and muscular but also gaunt and had a smile that seemed to turn on alarms in Sanji's mind. Beside him was a larger man in circular armor that made Sanji think of pancakes or waffle irons. Even that man was wearing a condescending smirk like he knew something Sanji didn't. Something was wrong but Sanji couldn't see what. Gin wouldn't have taken him anywhere that he could've been hurt. Gin was his friend, and maybe could be more, and these were his crewmates there wasn't any reason they would harm him. Still, his instincts were telling him one thing while his mind was telling him something vastly different. He decided to trust these people as he trusted Gin, surely they wouldn't hurt him._

 _"Sanji," Gin caught his attention with his voice. "This is my captain, Don Krieg and one of my strongest fellow crewmates, Pearl. Captain, this is Sanji the Celestial Dragon who helped me that I was telling you about."_

 _Sanji, minding his manners gave a polite but slight bow, "It's a pleasure to meet you. Gin talks about his captain and crew all the time."_

 _"Really, all he seems to talk about when he's here is you." Pearl said with a derisive snicker that caused Sanji's eyebrow to twitch._

 _"You did well by bringing him here Gin, I think he'll be very useful to us." Don Krieg said with a smile that made Sanji even more suspicious of the man._

 _"Gin told me that you wanted me to come here and talk about helping you guys in some way." Sanji pushed on anyway trying to rid himself of his negative thoughts. "If its food or supplies that you need I'd be willing to help since your Gin's crewmates."_

 _"How generous of you," Krieg said with a smirk, "that makes this so much easier."_

 _As Krieg spoke Sanji noticed some of the crewmembers circling around him to block off his access to the exit. He glance at Gin who had a confused and concerned frown on his face and looked at his Captain questioningly. Sanji felt like this must be what it's like when a fish realizes it's been ensnared in a fisherman's net. He turned to glare first at the men now blocking the exit who were all smiling creepily and then at the man in charge of them._

 _"Captain what's this about?" Gin asked in a perplexed manner._

 _"It's simple Gin. Did you even consider what a Celestial Dragon is worth to the government?" Don Krieg replied. "Sure we could have him help us but that's not the way that we get the most out of this situation. The Government would meet any price we'd set on a Celestial Dragon's ransom. We could ask for anything and they would have to give it to us to ensure his safety. He's so much more valuable to us as a hostage than he would be as an ally. We could ask for the best weapons money could buy, large land that we could rule as kings, even the head of their loyal dog Mihawk. They'd do anything, give us anything to get him back from us."_

 _Sanji felt annoyed and insulted. A hostage, did they expect him to just let them take him hostage without a fight? Did they think he was weak because of the caste he came from? He took the cigarette out of his mouth and crushed it into the ground beneath his shoe._

 _"You want to take him hostage?" Gin asked incredulous. "He helped me. He offered to help all of us, how could you think about doing something like that?"_

 _"Are you questioning me, Gin?" Don Krieg asked, threateningly. "Are you going to go against your captains orders? If I say we are taking him hostage then that's what we are going to do. You are in no position to question me. This is how we get revenge on that hawk-eyed freak. This is how we win and that's all that matters; winning."_

 _Gin clenched his fist but hesitated and Sanji's stomach sunk when he realized exactly what Gin was thinking. Sanji turned his glare to Gin and held back the urge to scream or to curse. He should have realized from the start that he wasn't worth betraying Krieg for in Gin's mind. It hurt but more than anything else it pissed him off. Sanji could feel his blood boil inside his and his skin get warm, warmer than a human's should be by any right._

 _Gin turned towards him with a defeated look and pleaded, "Please just go along with what they say; it will be better for you that way. I'm sorry it has to be like this but I promise we won't hurt you unless you make us."_

 _"Don't you fucking dare apologize," Sanji snarled, "You don't have that right. You think I'm going to go along with this, you think I'm so weak that I'd be captured by a worthless rebel crew like yours. Don't you dare fucking underestimate me. Now that I know I don't have to hold back anymore; I'll finish what Mihawk started."_

 _"You're going to fight us?" The man known as Pearl laughed and rose to approach him. "A Celestial Dragon that probably has never seen combat wants to challenge our entire crew all at once?"_

 _"You're an idiot if you think I've never fought before." Sanji replied with an irritated grimace on his face. "I was raised by former rebels and I've trained with people who are much stronger than you."_

 _"Let's see it then," Krieg responded, "If you can defeat everyone else then maybe I'll give you the honor of defeat at my own hands, if you make it that far. Get him boys," He commanded._

 _Sanji could sense the encroaching foot soldiers of Kriegs crew charging him. Sanji turn to glare at the closest of them. They came at him with pipes and makeshift weapons, very few carried undamaged swords or guns. These were the people they thought he couldn't beat; weaklings by any sense. He was faster than them. He was stronger than them. There attacks were slow and obvious and he could see right through them._

 _As the first attackers reached him he dodged at such speed that he seemed to disappear and reappear behind them. He singled out the one who was out in front of the group and swept his feet out from under him and then delivered a painful downwards kick to the man's stomach which left the man unconscious and cracks in the cement floor beneath him. This caused most of the other to hesitate but he wouldn't give them a chance to surrender. He went on to his hands to spin and kick away all the people who were surrounding him._

 _A man carrying a sword then approached and tried to slice at him, but his flipped out of the way and then kicked the man in the stomach with such ferocity that it sent him flying backwards taking out many of the man's companions. Sanji then knocked the pipe a man close to him was carrying and flipped onto the man's shoulders landing on his hands. Then spinning again to take out many of the men. He then jumped off the man to use a few other enemies as stepping stones as he kicked each one in the face to propel himself forward. A the last kick he jumped high into the air and flipped rapidly to perform a heel drop that left a small crater in the floor and the building shook from the power of it. There was only a small group of enemies left and as he landed and glared at him they backed away from him in fear. That's when Pearl's voice cut through the room._

 _"Useless, all of you are useless. You can't even capture one measly Celestial Dragon." Pearl screeched in anger. "I, the great iron wall Pearl, will step up to defeat you if my weak comrades cannot."_

 _"Go ahead and try, you walking talking waffle iron." Sanji yelled in annoyance._

 _"How dare you act so insolent!" Pearl exclaimed. "I'll have you know that I've never shed a single drop of blood in battle."_

 _"There's a first time for everything you bastard." Sanji retorted._

 _Pearl's steps were heavy, but Sanji figured that it was caused by the weight of him armor. The armor would complicate the battle but only slightly. When training with Law, Sanji had already learned how to break such defenses easily. Pearl approached him and took his first swing at him with smaller circular plates, but his speed made Sanji want to laugh. Sanji barely had to move back to avoid such slow and predictable strikes. Yet, apparently Pearl thought he was running away._

 _"You can't even stand one of my attack so you keep running away." Pearl laughs and Sanji rolls his eyes. "Are you that afraid?"_

 _"If anyone should be afraid it should be you, asshole." Sanji scoffed and decided to begin his counterattack._

 _Sanji waited for two more of Pearl's strikes to miss him and then he had the opening he was looking for. Pearl's way of attacking was too wide and he had left is chest wide open. Perhaps, he thought that the armor he was wearing would protect him, but it wouldn't. Sanji delivers a round of kick to that armor and caused dents to be formed in the metal. Pearl obviously felt the impact as he seemed to have the air knocked out of him. Sanji used this opportunity to kick the side of Pearl's face were there was no armor to protect him._

 _Pearl stumbled and put a hand to the cheek that Sanji had just attacked. It was obvious that he thought highly of his appearance and was caught off guard to be injured there. Sanji could see Pearl's face grow bright red with anger that flowed all the way down his neck. Sanji just grinned at him._

 _"You dare attack my face, my handsome face!" Pearl yelled. "I'll kill you for this!"_

 _"If you're so worried maybe you should have worn armor there." Sanji replied._

 _Pearl ignited his shield with friction and soon his entire body was surrounded by flames, but Sanji was not worried. Pearl seemed to be having some kind of breakdown as his attacks became more sporadic and he left himself open far more often. However now his flaming attacks would ignite the wood and garbage that was littered around the base. Pearl didn't seem to care that he was setting fire to his own base. Still, if Pearl wanted to play with fire so bad, then that's what they would do._

 _"Only cooks should play with fire, idiots like you will only hurt yourselves." Sanji snarked before spinning rapidly to ignite one of his legs with fire as well, "diablo jumble."_

 _"You have fire too?" Pearl screamed in surprise and fear._

 _"Let's finish this," Sanji said._

 _Sanji seemed to disappear again with his silhouette flashing in and out of existence in many point until Pearl couldn't follow where he was anymore. As Pearl tried to figure out where Sanji was, Sanji swept his feet out from under him sending the man wearing the metal plate falling onto his back on the ground. Sanji appeared above him and kicked off the ceiling to finish the battle with a downwards kick that shattered the man's armor and sent the pieces exploding out like fragments of glass leaving Pearl unconscious and bleeding from his mouth and stomach where the armor had be broken. Sanji's fire died out once the attack had finished._

 _"Like I said; first time for everything." Sanji smirks as he says it._

 _"Not bad," Krieg says patronizingly. "Gin, it's time you take care of the trouble that your friend is causing."_

 _Gin hesitates and looks over at Sanji. Sanji responds to Gin's pleading look with a glare and a stance that shows he's ready to fight. Gin shakes his head and looks back at his captain._

 _"Captain, I've followed you all this time and you know that I'm loyal to you, but I cannot do what you ask of me." Gin explain and Sanji's temper was tampered slightly as Gin continued to speak. "He saved my life and offered to help us. I can't hurt him."_

 _"You're defying my order," Don Krieg asked grinding his teeth._

 _Gin opened his mouth but didn't have time to reply as Krieg leapt from his seat and seemed to appear suddenly above Gin. Sanji opened his mouth to scream at Gin to move but he didn't do it in time. He watch as Krieg grabbed Gin by the face and slammed him into the ground. Sanji glares at Krieg like the cockroach he felt he was. What kind of person would hurt their own crew member for something that was insignificant like that?_

 _"I'll just do it myself." Krieg ground out through his teeth as he released Gin and turned to face Sanji. "Don't expect any mercy from me, boy."_

 _"Same here asshole," Sanji growled and reignited diablo jumble._

 _Krieg rose in his golden armor and grabbed a strange spear that was nearby and pointed it at Sanji. Sanji started to dodge again and was gone by the time that Krieg had swung the spear at him. Krieg however wasn't fazed by his disappearing act as he had seen it used in the battle with Pearl. Instead, Krieg changed strategies and pulled a string on his armor to reveal a bunch of guns that had been built into his armor. Krieg seemed to activate some sort of machine gun that rapidly fired rounds as Krieg tried to hit Sanji by firing in a round sending shots all around the base sometimes barely missing his own crew._

 _Sanji had been focusing on dodging but he hadn't realized that he was near a barrel of gunpowder until it was too late and Krieg had seemed to have planned it. Sanji only had a second to curse under his breath before the barrel exploded next to him, however he was able to avoid taking critical injuries. Krieg laughed until Sanji stepped out of the smoke annoyed but not seriously injured._

 _"That didn't kill you," Krieg snarled._

 _"I'm quite hard to kill." Sanji replied._

 _Krieg tried to reload but Sanji moved quicker than he had expected. Sanji Aimed at Krieg's chest but Krieg turned and made his cape face Sanji. Sanji could see then why he had done so. The cape was made of sharp needle like fibers. Sanji change his movement and back-flipped to put some space in between them._

 _Krieg sneered and swung the spear at Sanji again and Sanji resigned himself to wait for an opening as he was sure his endurance would outlast Krieg's. Krieg must have surmised the same as his swung widely as he tried to end the battle as quickly as possible. Sanji would not give him any chance to land a hit and then Krieg had an idea. Krieg glanced to where Gin had started to rise from his earlier attack and Sanji followed where Krieg's eyes went. Krieg quickly changed direction and swiftly tried to attack Gin instead._

 _"Gin," Sanji called out, realizing who Krieg was trying to attack next._

 _Sanji ran to intercept the attack when Krieg changed directions again and his spear caught Sanji in the ribs. The laceration wasn't deep but Sanji smelled something other than blood and steel. He realized then that Krieg weapon must have been coated in some sort of poison which meant he needed to end this quickly._

 _"Sanji," Gin cried out._

 _Sanji didn't have time to worry about the wound he had gained at the moment, instead he used the opening it had made for him. He switch to his hands and caught the shaft of Krieg's spear between his ankles and twisted. The metal screeched but ultimately gave and the weapon was broken in half. Sanji then jumped away putting distance between the two of the again._

 _"That's not possible," Krieg snarled. "You must have some kind of devils fruit to be able to do that."_

 _"Hate to disappoint you but I'm just a normal cook." Sanji snarled in reply._

 _"You liar," Krieg accused. "If you're going to play dirty then I will too! I'll do whatever it takes to win against you, against Mihawk, against everyone!"_

 _"Captain you can't use the gas. We'll kill our own men since they're unconscious!" Gin argued._

 _"Gas?" Sanji asked._

 _"If their sacrifice is what is needed to win then that's fine with me." Krieg replied._

 _Krieg then reaches inside his cape to withdraw two items from it. One is a bomb of some sort and the other is a golden gas mask. Sanji surmised that the bomb must be one made of deadly gas given Gin's earlier statement._

 _Now Sanji was worried. He glance behind him and saw that the pathway to the exit was completely open. He could try to escape. He was fast enough to avoid Krieg most likely, but that would mean that Krieg might activate the bomb while he made his escape. He'd have to abandon Gin to fend for himself with the gas and leave many other people to possibly die as well. He vision was starting to get blurry. He knew then that the poison was starting to take effect._

 _One more, Sanji thought, just one more shot and that had to be the end if this guy decided that he was going to go this far. Sanji could feel himself light afire, it was something that hadn't happened before, now the way it was now at any rate. His whole body was covered in flames but not being consumed by them. All he really knew was that he was really pissed off._

 _Krieg drew his arm back to set off the bomb and covered his face with a gasmask and Sanji took off running. Krieg only saw a godlike figure wrapped in flames appear before him and tried to open his mouth to scream about devil's fruits and the situation being unfair but no sound was made. Sanji begun his assault, taking care not to set off the bomb, but being as brutal as a vengeful demon may be. There was blood splatter on his shoes, on his suit and the bomb rolled uselessly out of Krieg's grip as he became unconscious. How many of Krieg's bones had he broken, Sanji wasn't counting but he figured it was a high number. Yet, he wasn't thinking about stopping until arms wrapped around him pulling him backwards._

 _"Stop," Gin pleaded, "You're killing him, stop please."_

 _Sanji's rage disappeared but the sting of betrayal was still there, ever present now but his vision and his mind were getting more shrouded by the poison with each moment. He realized that Gin was right with a slight terror coiling in his stomach. He hadn't wanted to be like this; to go this far, to be like all the other people in his caste. He allowed himself a deep breath before he broke out of Gin's grasp._

 _"If I ever see either of your faces again, I won't stop no matter how much you ask me to." He snarled before pushing Gin aside and walking towards the exit his flames now having died out alone with most of his anger._

 _As he left the building and Gin and Krieg behind his anger dissipated all together as people of the lower castes in the area looking at him walking by them like a monster. His eyes were blurry but they had been since he was infected with the poison, it took him some time to realize that he had started to cry at some point. He wrapped his arms around himself and tried to hold them back. He tried to focus on just walking and staying conscious until he could get to the hospital that Law worked at._

 _It seemed like he had blacked out for a while as he was walking because he couldn't remember how exactly he'd gotten to the hospital when the sliding doors opened for him. Everyone froze for a second to see a Celestial Dragon in his condition before the medical staff immediately sprang into action to help him suddenly ignoring their other patients, something he didn't approve of but didn't have the energy or time to get angry about. Then he seemed to be asked a million questions but only answered with one sentence._

 _"Poison," Sanji rasped, "Get Law."_

…

"He's trying to protect me." Sanji says with a small smile. "I know he's overzealous about it but I can't say that I wouldn't be doing the same thing if our situations were reversed. He's my best friend and it's not like we have a lot of other people in our lives that are as close to us as we are to each other."

Sanji left it at that. He wouldn't divulge any more of Law's and his past than was absolutely necessary. They were Law's secrets to keep or reveal and Sanji definitely wasn't going to reveal them to some weird green haired swordsman he just met. He had told him what he could if it wasn't enough then Zoro would just have to deal with it.

"Just best friends huh," Zoro grumbled and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Sanji rolled his eyes, "Yes, just best friends. You thought we were more than that."

"I don't cling to my best friends like he does to you and I don't sleep in the same bed as them either." Zoro retorted with a shrug.

"Your loss," Sanji said back with a smirk. "Why? Are you worried about me dating someone; that's pretty forward for having just met me yesterday moss-head?"

"It's also very forward to tell your houseguest everything about yourself without vetting them first," a hoarse sounding Law said from the hallway with glinting eyes.

Sanji and Zoro froze as if they had been caught in some crime. Law moved towards Sanji and gave him a long unappreciative look. Sanji swallowed thickly but also scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. Law sighed in response.

"Guess it's too late now, but fine if you told him so much then I think he owes us something as well." Law says turned his glaring eyes at Zoro.

"Why the hell do I owe you anything raccoon?" Zoro yelled abashed. "You're the one who tried to murder me on first sight."

"You're a rebel," Law stated completely ignoring Zoro's argument. "I don't trust rebels around Sanji anymore."

"Oi, you're a rebel too," Sanji reminded with a wave of his hand.

"That's not the point," Law responded dryly, "What crew do you belong to? If you tell me I can check them out and determine if you're a threat or not and I'll let them know that you aren't dead as I do."

Zoro glanced between Law and Sanji. He didn't like the idea of the raccoon going to investigate Luffy and the others. If Sanji was as powerful as he said he was and he had trained with Law then Law wasn't someone to be trifled with. However, it wasn't like Luffy couldn't handle himself.

"How do I know you won't hurt them?" Zoro asked.

"As long as they don't hurt Sanji or plan to then I have no reason to." Law replied with a sly smile.

Zoro looked to Sanji who just shrugged and sighed before leaving to the kitchen probably to cook something for them. Zoro thought for a few more seconds, Luffy wasn't the type to attack without a reason either but it wasn't like he was guarded when it came to new people and that didn't always go well, especially if someone wanted to use or hurt him. Then again, he did have that seas witch Nami and everyone else with him, so he supposed he'd just have to hope they could keep Luffy from doing anything too stupid.

"Fine," Zoro grumbled, "I'm the first mate of the Strawhat Pirates. If you want to know about them so badly you can find them at the Sunny Go Bar in the silver district."

"Good," Law smiled in a happy yet creepy way. "I'll pay them a visit then."

…

Marco had taken the whole night to reorganize the reports, however that wasn't caused by the task being difficult but rather that he was too distracted by reorganizing his own thoughts to focus on the papers in his hands. All that was on his mind was Ace and Teach, Teach and Ace, round and round in circles his mind spun giving him a headache. How were they connected; it was obvious that they were an employer and employee but why? Marco felt certain that Ace was a decent person and he was usually an excellent judge of character. If he had been more forthright about his opinions of Teach when they'd first met perhaps they wouldn't be in the position they were in now. His thought continued on this path as he made his way to work where Oyaji would be so that he could bring his concerns to him directly.

Marco had felt there was something off about the man the moment he first saw him. There was something wrong with the air whenever Teach was near. It had always made Marco very cautious around the man who always seemed to be plotting something. Marco knew he was plotting even now. Had Teach planned on Ace and him meeting? Marco considered it but they're meeting had been so random that it probably hadn't been planned in advance. Still, Marco knew that Teach wouldn't pass up a golden opportunity when one made itself known. Which meant that he would definitely be seeing Ace again and that he'd have to be very careful of him from this point on. Marco's mind went back to the last time he had seen Teach, when they had almost lost Thatch to his treachery all over a devil's fruit.

 _The Yami yami no mi was found by Thatch and at first none of them had known that Teach had been searching for it for years already at that point. Thatch wasn't sure if he was going to eat it or not. He didn't seem inclined to give up his ability to swim for whatever power the devil's fruit would provide. Teach never mentioned even then that he had wanted it, instead his actions had grown increasingly troubling to Marco. He had taken to following Thatch everywhere and the way he looked at him made Marco's hair stand on end. He could sense that something wasn't normal, but he had only divulged his thought to Oyaji and they had agreed that they didn't want to panic the rest of the crew unless they had proof. They only realized much later that they had made a huge mistake._

 _The day everything came to fruition had been the day of Izou's birth, and Marco had been distracted with the festivities both partaking in them and stopping others from partaking too much. He wasn't keeping an eye on Thatch and Teach like he should have been. Oyaji had already gone over the alcohol limit the nurses gave him and Marco was busy picking up the drunkards off the floor and helping them to their rooms to notice when Thatch and Teach disappeared._

 _It was only as everyone gathered around to give gifts that he, along with everyone else noticed Thatch's absence. Thatch had always been bombastic at Birthday parties and always demanded to be the first to give gifts. However, when Izou sat down to receive gifts there was silence when they should have heard his shouting. Izou was questioning where he was while Marco in a panic scanned the gathering of his family and noticed two people absent. His stomach sank and his breathing seemed to slow to a crawl as he turned to lock eyes with Whitebeard who had arrived at the exact conclusion that he had._

 _Marco had cursed fairly loudly before he ran from the room in a dead sprint as panic curled inside him and made a whole in his gut. He felt cold although he never could and no matter how fast he ran it seemed like he was running through a heavy swamp; the thickness of his fear made it so. Marco was kicking down every door and searching every room when he noticed Izou and the other commanders doing the same thing following after him. Izou's looked even more terrified than he did, so much so that Marco was reminded of what Izou was like as a child clinging to his sleeve in uneasiness._

 _It seemed to take an eternity for them to reach the kitchen, but Marco found the door latched; locked shut. He knew what he would find inside and dread filled him, he prayed he wasn't too late. With one well-placed kick the door fell open off of its hinges, revealing the exact scene Marco had been hoping to prevent._

 _Thatch lay on the floor still conscious and trying to hold his multiple wounds shut and he glared up at Teach who stood over him holding the half eaten devil's fruit in his hands. His mouth dripped with the fruits juices and he looked like he was in the middle of a laugh. Marco could barely hear Izou screamed Thatch's name above his own primal yell. The phoenix came forth without Marco truly calling for its presence; it was just the beast that he turned into because of his rage. He was on Teach before he thought to be blood spilling from the flesh his talons had dug into like knives through butter._

 _Teach only laughed through the pain as he struggled to try to bring the rest of the devil's fruit to his lips. Marco's thoughts were none existent and all he wanted to do at the moment was to bring death upon the traitorous prey in front of him. Only predatory instinct was driving him as he turned and started to drag Teach towards the third story window. Teach's empty hand was trying to rip the talons out of him while he clutched the devil's fruit in his other._

 _With one more beat of his wings Marco threw himself through the glass and felt it shatter against the force of his weight. The glass merely moved through his fire and he felt none of his cuts but his noticed with pleasure that the man he was dragging wasn't so lucky. He quickly released his hold on the evil man and watched with vested interest as gravity took the man and drew him towards the pavement. He was about to dive towards his enemy to attack again when a voice quickly called back his humanity to the surface._

 _"Marco, help please," Izou screamed in distress. "Thatch is dying, you have to fly him to the hospital now!"_

 _Marco came out of his delusion quickly and returned to have Izou lift Thatch and place him onto his back as Marco kept his flames in check so that they wouldn't hurt him. His rage was gone now replaced with desperation and worry. He didn't notice that Teach had survived his fall and escaped with the rest of the devil's fruit off into the night, into hiding where Marco had been unable to find him again._

Thatch had survived but Marco had always know that he would meet Teach again and that he was someone whom he had to kill no matter what stood in the way. Marco looked up at the door to Whitebeard's office and gently knocked before entering. He had no idea had he looked at the moment, if his unease was slipping past the strong mask he tried to wear so that people wouldn't know if he was affected by them. He knew it would be of no use to hide it though, not in front of Oyaji.

"Marco," Oyaji nodded as he inspected Marco sensing in the air that something had gone very wrong.

"Oyaji, he's back, Teach." Marco stated simply. "He's been hiding out in the lowest caste district most likely for some time now, yoi."

"And how did you come across this information?" Whitebeard asked.

"By coincidence unfortunately." Marco admitted. "I think he's about to target us again but if I'm right it's not Thatch he's after this time."

"Who is he after then?" Whitebeard questioned.

"Based on the circumstances, he'll be targeting me next, yoi." Marco explained. "He's been granted a great opportunity and we both know that he's not someone who would pass that up. I ran into one of his workers yesterday at random I was walking him home when I found out that he was someone under Teach's control. I have no doubt that Teach will try to use that kid against me now."

"Tell me what you know about this kid."

"Not much other than his name is Ace and he has a brother whom he cares about deeply. I also believe he's doing something he's ashamed of under Teach and that Teach has something over him to force him into it. I'm sure that Teach will use that to try to turn Ace into a weapon he can use against me since he believes I've taken an interest in him." Marco surmised.

"Have you taken an interest in him?" Oyaji asked in surprise knowing that Marco didn't usually branch out from their family.

"As much as I do in someone I meet and don't have a reason to despise. He's interesting however you don't need to worry I'm not inclined towards him or anything hazardous." Marco replied with a shrug to hear Oyaji sigh in disappointment behind him. "I taking an interest in anyone would always lead nowhere, and there's no changing that, yoi. Still, since he's in Teach's claws I would like to help him escape if possible."

"What are you planning to do then?" Oyaji asked. "Teach plans to use this Ace against you and you plan to help him escape Teach's grasp, but in doing so you're stepping into his trap."

"True, in a sense but since I know it's a trap I think it'd be easy for me to avoid getting caught in it." Marco stated. "In fact if I can turn Ace against Teach I may have everything I need to take him down once and for all."

Whitebeard sighed before saying, "Just be careful Marco, Teach is more conniving than we ever gave him credit for and we have no idea what he's using to control the boy. We can't afford to lose you especially not to him."

"Don't worry Oyaji," Marco said with a smile, "You know as well as I do that I'm not going to die anytime soon no matter how many people come for my head, yoi."

…

Nami was on her way to the Sunny Go bar we she heard it. She had always eavesdropped since she was a little girl. Now she found it was extremely useful and she was always listening, though she knew Robin was better at it because of her ability. The news came from two guards who walked by her.

"Did you hear what happened with the Mariejois night patrol?" One guard said to the other. "You know, about the Celestial Dragon who captured that wanted criminal and refused to give him up to the guards."

"You mean the crazy guy who was torturing that criminal right and threatened the guards because they interrupted." The other replied. "Who was that criminal again didn't he have a bounty over one hundred and fifty million beli?"

Nami listened closer slowing down so she could hear more. She wasn't surprised that some Celestial Dragon had a thing for torturing people but most of them were fairly fearful of rebels and criminals and only picked on the weak. She wondered what kind of criminal with that high of a bounty could get captured by a Celestial Dragon. She wasn't prepared for the answer.

"Roanoa Zoro, the rebel hunter," The first one replied then.

Nami inhaled so sharply she was sure that the two guards would notice that she had been listening. However they paid her no mind, but her mind was racing. She thought about how injured Zoro had been when the fighting and how his-stupid-self had gotten lost again on their way back. She thought about attacking the guards but knew it would be too rash of a decision and that instead she needed to get this information to Luffy and the others as quickly as possible. She took off running in the direction of the Sunny.

...

 _ **I'm sorry this took so long I've been working full time and don't have a lot of time to write. Please**_ ** _review, thank you. -LPC_**


	4. Chapter 4

_**WARNING NOT BETA-ED**_

 _ **...**_

"Zoro-bro was captured by a Celestial Dragon?" Franky questioned in a shocked manner before continuing. "I can't picture that happening."

"Zoro's strong, Nami. Are you sure that this information is correct?" Brook asked also doubtful.

"I told you," Nami exclaimed, "I heard it from guards and they said Zoro's name. It's not like there's a lot of three sword wielding green haired men out there."

"If there's a Celestial Dragon that's strong enough to capture Zoro, we're done for." Ussop worried.

"He was already wounded," Robin added, "If those wounds weren't treated he could already be dead."

"Dead!" Chopper exclaimed in a frightened tone.

"Ugh," Nami yells in frustration. "Why out of all the days would Luffy have to stay late today?"

"We can't really do anything about that, he got into a bit of trouble today." Ussop explained scratching the back of his head.

"We can't act on this without him, but we can gather some information while we wait." Robin said with a smile as she stood up from the barstool at the Sunny Go Bar where they had all gathered.

"You're going to go do that then," Franky asked with slight concern.

"It won't do us any good if we don't even know which Celestial Dragon has Zoro, if the claims are true." Robin replied. "And I don't think many Celestial Dragons are strong enough to capture Zoro. If I listen to Mariejois guard chatter I may be able to find out who it was and if it's true."

"That's true, we can't exactly go around attacking every Celestial Dragon we see." Nami nodded in agreement.

"Exactly, so I'll go gather some information and you all will keep Luffy from running off and doing something stupid as soon as he hears about this."

"That's a lot harder than you two make it out to be," Ussop intercedes.

"It has to be done," Robin says with a shrug. "I'm counting on you all to keep our captain safe."

"You got it!" Franky say with an enthusiastic nod. "Leave it to us."

"Yeah!" Copper beams.

"You're all taking this way to easily." Ussop says shaking his head.

Robin just smiled gently before turning and leaving their headquarters. She sincerely doubted that Zoro was in much trouble, although he did seem to have a natural propensity for it just as their captain did. After all, he usually got out of trouble just as easily as he got into it; sometimes oblivious to the troubles existence in the first place.

…

Ace was surprised to find that for once in his unfortunate life, something horrible he expected to happen didn't. He was never punished for being late; however his job in and of itself was punishment enough he supposed. This only proved, in his mind, that Teach was extremely serious about their new deal. Ace was sure he'd sold away part of his soul in making such an agreement and feared even more what he'd give away of himself upon its completion.

Ace wanted to crawl into bed as soon as he entered his and Zoro's home. Most people would probably refer to their home as a shack, but it was better than what most people had in their district. Sure it was two rooms; the main room and the bathroom. It had dirt floors but it had running gas and water and even a door with a lock; something most people couldn't dream of in their district. The lights were simple light bulbs hanging from their electrical wires. The main room was where their two beds were, although for the most part they were really just cots with a couple pillows and blankets, and a couch they'd managed find discarded in the dump. The couch was well worn but was in good shape other than a few scratches and tears they had patched.

They had put up a metal separator they made out of some sheet metal to separate their beds from the small area they used as a kitchen. The kitchen was mostly just a gas stove that they used as heating when it got cold in the winter. Beside the stove was a sink made of just a water pipe and a large basin they had to empty by hand in the street. They had stacked wooden crates to use as counters and cut out some of them to make doors to put the few dishes and cooking supplies they had. On the floor was a hatch door that lead to the small closet-like cellar they kept all the food in.

Ace looked at his bed and longed to throw himself into it and forget the whole day; clients and all. He couldn't indulge this thought though, because even if he threw himself into bed now because there was no way he could sleep. There were things he needed to wash away at the moment; filth, touches, thoughts.

He turned away from his bed and towards the second room of the house and entered the small bathroom. It was simple a toilet and a shower made of a water pipe and a drain. Functioning bathrooms were the only comfort their society thought the Untouchable caste deserved and that was just to make sure diseases didn't spread from the Untouchables to the rest of the castes. Although they decided that Untouchables wouldn't be treated at any medical facility for that reason too, supposedly.

It didn't matter how rudimental the shower was though, as long as he felt clean, but more and more he didn't. When it all started, Ace would stand in the shower for hours trying to scrub away everything that happened until his skin was peeling off and Zoro was screaming at the door asking him if he was okay over the sound of the water and his own sobs. Now, he was more composed, perhaps he just gotten use to the fact that'd he'd never really feel clean again.

As he cleaned himself he thought over the deal and what he knew so far. Teach had offered not only his own freedom but that of Sabo's as well. It was everything he even wanted but it came with a huge downfall. He had to kill the man he'd just met named Marco. Marco and Teach obviously had some kind of history together that definitely wasn't pleasant and Ace could easily think of a hundred things Teach could have done to make it so. Also, Marco was seen as very formidable to Teach, which meant that he definitely wasn't going to be easy to kill.

Teach had told him that Marco was the right hand man of a powerful Rebel called Whitebeard. To be honest Ace hadn't paid much attention to what the Rebels of society were doing ever since Teach begun to influence his life. He could still remember talking to Luffy and Sabo about wanting to be the Rebel King who finally managed to overthrow society and the caste system, but such thoughts were extinct in his mind now. He now had other things to worry about and just left those dreams to tarnish in the very back of his mind. So, knowing that Marco was Whitebeards right hand man didn't help him at all.

However, when it came to rebels, especially strong ones, Ace knew exactly who he could go to for information. Luckily that person was also Ace's only confidant when it came to the situation he was in with Teach. The man's name was Shanks and he was also one of the four Rebel Emperors.

At first, Ace had thought about confiding in Zoro about everything that was happening with Teach, but he'd decided against it. After all, Zoro was Luffy's first mate and Ace could be sure if Zoro would tell Luffy about Sabo or not. Ace couldn't risk Luffy finding out the truth, not until things were resolved anyway. So, his work and Teach were the only subjects he'd never speak a word of with Zoro, although he had a feeling Zoro knew what his work was just not why he did it.

Shanks on the other hand wouldn't say a word to Luffy, both out of concern for his safety and because he'd promised to meet Luffy only once Luffy became a strong Rebel. Therefore, Ace never had to worry about Shanks breaking his confidentiality. In this situation, Ace was thankful to have someone at his side he could confide in. Shanks would most likely know more about Marco and Whitebeard than what little Teach had given him to go on and Ace needed someone to talk about everything with anyway. So after getting redressed he headed towards Shanks's place hoping to glean some information from the famous redhead.

Shanks ran a branch of hotels in the bronze and silver districts, known both for their quality and their black market gambling that was a staple of their service. Shanks never did anything that hurt other people but the gambling that occurred always worked out in his favor; the house always wins was definitely true. Gambling had become very restricted in their society and only certain people had permits for it; Shanks didn't.

However, Shanks did have a collection of Devils fruits on offer as prizes for those who were lucky enough to win big. Devil's fruits were also highly illegal to sell, however rebels and the general public always found ways to get their hands on them. Shanks had once told Ace that all of the four emperors had secret stores of devil's fruits that they had found and hidden from the government. Ace's fruit, the mera-mera no mi, had been a prize at Shanks' hotel and underground casino as well. Ace had gotten extremely lucky one night; before the incident with Teach occurred, and he'd decided to get the fruit. At times he couldn't help but regret that decision, however he was so young that he probably shouldn't have been allowed to gamble anyway. Still, there wasn't anything he could do about the past and the powers he gained were useful, maybe too much so. However, Ace wasn't sure if he had won because he was lucky or if Shanks' had arranged it in some way, hoping to help him out in life, or something.

Ace quickly arrived at the hotel that Shanks used as his main base and the loud sounds of gambling could be heard from the outside. Despite the fact that their illegal activities were obvious, no marines would dare come near one of Shanks' establishments. Their fear of the red haired emperor was too great for them to trespass here. Ace was glad for this since he really didn't want to run into any more marines.

Ace entered the building and quickly went to the door that anyone who wasn't familiar with the hotel would think was a cleaning closet door, but really led to stairs winding down to the casino portion of the establishment. Ace descended into the casino where the sounds of machines go louder and louder and the air was thick with cigar and cigarette smoke. Ace looks over to the coin counter and sees Benn Beckman manning it with Rockstar and shoot the older man a questioning look. Beckman nods his head in the direction of the office. Ace nods his understand and swiftly moves to the office door and knocks on it.

"Eh?" Shanks voice comes from the inside. "Come on in?"

Ace opens the door to find Shanks, alone thankfully, with his feet up on his desk in his sandals and laying back in his chair as if it were a bed. Shanks regards him with a raised eyebrow and a tilt of his head. Ace wonders if his expression has given away the fact that he's not here for a friendly visit already. Ace steps in without a word until the door is firmly shut behind him. He knows no one from Shanks' crew is going to eavesdrop on their conversation but he still worries about being overheard by others. He's sure that if Marco truly is as much of a threat that Teach makes him out to be then he must make sure this conversation doesn't get back to him somehow.

"I swear you're the only one who ever knocks before they come in." Shanks says with a grin. "What can I do for you today, Ace? Here to clean house again, you're quite good at gambling after all?"

"No, today is more of a business visit than a personal one, but I guess it's personal too." Ace shrugs but maintains his seriousness.

"When it comes to you work is personal, so what does that fat bastard want now?" Shanks asks still seeming fairly relaxed. "I've never known Blackbeard to reach out to other rebels."

"He's not," Ace said with a sigh, taking a seat in one of the other chairs in the office. "I made a deal with him."

"That's sounds like a terrible idea." Shanks said with a smile still on his face but narrowed eyes. "What sort of deal are you talking about?"

Ace decided to answer the question with one of his own. "What do you know about the Whitebeard rebels?"

"Hmm," Shanks hummed leaving his own question unanswered. "They're very strong mostly because of their leader and his right hand man. They occupy a large territory in the business district based out of a power company. If our to rebel groups decided to go all out against each other I couldn't guarantee that we'd end up on top in the end. They call themselves a family and their main structure in their sixteen commanders that keep thing maintain each in a different area. What do they have to do with this?"

"Teach wants me to kill one of them." Ace responded finally.

"Are you fucking crazy?" Shanks says explosively slamming his hand down on the desk and giving Ace a fierce look. "I just got done saying that they're powerful and even we would have a hard time with them and you think you can just kill one of them by yourself and get away with it? There's no way you'll be able to do that and even if you could you would get killed for it in return. They aren't going to let go of the fact that you killed one of them. That would be suicide, plain and simple."

"It's not like I can say no," Ace replied solemnly. "You know what would happen to Sabo if I don't go through with this. I can't just leave him to die, and Teach said that he'd set Sabo and I free if I did this."

"And you believe him?" Shanks asks doubtfully, shaking his head. "Even if he did hold up his end of the deal, the Whitebeards's would be after you then and you'd end up dead in the end."

"Even so, it'd be worth it." Ace said, his voice and eyes determined.

Shanks sighed being asking, "Who exactly did Blackbeard want you to kill?"

"This guy named Marco, he's Whitebeard's right hand man supposedly." Ace answered.

Shanks' expression was a stunned one, looking as if he couldn't process what he just heard for a few minutes. Ace decided against saying anything to break the awkward silence that arose from Shanks trying to process this new information. Shanks started to shake his head again but this time it was much more frantic.

"No, no, no, no, nope, not going to happen, not going to happen at all." Shanks chanted crazily. "Do you know anything about Marco and his powers? He's crazy strong, there is no chance in hell that you're going to be able to hurt him, let alone kill him. Do you know what his devil's fruit is?"

"That's why I'm here, so you can tell me about him so I can find a weakness I can use." Ace retorted.

"Doesn't exist," Shanks answered. "I've tried recruiting Marco for ages because of how powerful he is, but he refuses to leave his family. He doesn't have weakness except the normal things a devil's fruit users deal with, but even then he's prepared to face those things too. He's been doing this a lot longer than you have and if you go into this thinking you have the upper hand then you're going to end up dead, fast. Trust me on this, Ace, you don't want to even try to do this."

"I have to try," Ace said raising his voice. "This might be the only chance to free Sabo, I have to take it."

"And if you end up dead, then who's going to try to help Sabo. You kept this all a secret from Luffy and if he found out then he would be hurt too." Shanks shouted back. "Do you want that?"

"Of course I don't," Ace took a breath and clamed himself before continuing. "I just have to try and if I have to do it without your help then I will."

Shanks sighed, "Fine, but if you get into trouble don't expect me to bail you out. You wanted to deal with everything on your own so don't expect me to interfere on your behalf. I can't risk everyone here for you since you're not part of our crew."

"I'd never expect that of you." Ace replied. "What can you tell me about Marco?"

"He's known better as Marco the Phoenix, this is because of his extremely rare devil's fruit. He ate the tweet-tweet fruit model: phoenix. It's known as a mythical type zoan fruit since phoenixes only exist in mythology. Its powers are somewhat similar to your mera-mera no mi's. It can turn him into a phoenix; a bird made of fire; thus it gives him the strength of a zoan fruit with the versatility of a logia type fruit. Also, it allows him to regenerate any injury, so if you're really thinking of trying to kill him you'll have to deactivate his powers first." Shanks explains. "He's a master of transformation and he's the only person I know of that can transform specific parts of his body at will and since he can fly he's especially adept at aerial attacks. He's damn near immortal and that's why he's usually the one actually leading the rebels when they attack."

"So, in other words, Seastone and drowning are basically my only options." Ace says with a sigh.

"And as a devil's fruit user he'd definitely see something like that coming," Shanks pointed out. "Which is why I was telling you this was a dumb idea. Why does Blackbeard even think you'd be able to kill Marco anyway considering you know so little about him?"

"I ran into him and now Blackbeard thinks that Marco is interested in me for some reason." Ace explained with a shrug.

"Interesting," Shanks said with a grin returning to his face. "Marco's a bit of an odd person. He can see right through people most of the time, which is another reason he's so strong. However, he doesn't take an interest in many people and if he does there's always a reason. Does he know you're with Teach then?"

"Yes, he knows, Teach and him had a glaring contest when Marco was helping be get back to my district from his."

"Then that will both help you and hurt you. Marco probably is already expecting Teach to use you against him and Marco's is probably planning to do the same thing to Teach. I'm not sure Marco will let you too close to him unless he believes that you'll help him destroy Blackbeard." Shanks surmised.

"So you think I should act like I'm going to betray Teach?" Ace asked.

"That's the only thing I can think of that would have a chance at working." Shanks said with a sigh. "Although, to be honest I think that should be your actual plan."

"To betray Teach, when he could kill Sabo immediately?" Ace gasped. "There's no way I can take that kind of risk."

"True, but I don't think you'll be able to kill Marco, once you get to know him." Shank argued. "He's not like Blackbeard, in fact he's the opposite; you can rely on him and you should. Once he's on your side he'll never betray you. If it suits his purposes Blackbeard will betray you and you have no idea if he'll keep his word or not. I think if you did kill Marco you'd end up regretting it until the Whitebeards came and cut off your head." Shanks paused. "So let me ask you, Ace, do you really think that you can kill an innocent person that would only ever be good to you just to serve yourself and the evil man who's be torturing you for the last six years?"

Ace hesitated. He didn't know if he could kill Marco or not but even if he didn't want to, did it really matter what his feelings were? As long as Sabo was safe and Luffy was safe then wasn't it fine how everything else ended up. He'd already messed up so much in his life so would getting blood on his hands make a difference?

"I guess I'll just have to see," Ace replied with uncertainty.

"I really hope you know what you're doing and that you don't do something you'll regret."

Ace got up and went to the door, knowing there was nothing else to talk about at this point. He could feel Shanks' disapproval but he couldn't do anything about it. He had to do whatever was necessary to free Sabo, no matter what the consequences were or how it would hurt him. Otherwise, what was the point on continuing to live to this moment in time?

"Thank you for the information." Ace said as he went to leave.

"Ace," Shanks called out, "Just think about what I said alright. I don't want either of you to end up dead."

Ace nodded solemnly before exiting the office and shutting the door behind him. Shanks sighed deeply putting his hand to his face. He tried to relax and not think about what would happen if any of the Whitebeards heard him tell Ace what he just did. Then in a flash the air vent on his ceiling was kicked open and clattered loudly to the ground. Shanks jumped up from his chair with surprise and made to grab for his weapon that was in a corner of the room near a cabinet. When he saw the figure that jumped down from the vent he was sure he would need his sword.

Marco glared at Shanks with raised eyebrows and crossed arms, altogether looking thoroughly unimpressed, but not threatening at the moment. Shanks' arm continued to reach for his sword while he rapidly paled. Marco's lips curved upwards into a devious smile and his eyes seemed like glints.

"H-Hey Marco," Shanks stuttered, "How did you get past everyone? Did you really need to sneak in through the vents? You could have just knocked like a normal person."

"But if I did that then I wouldn't have been able to hear your whole conversation, yoi." Marco replied. "And it was a very interesting conversation and very pertinent to my survival apparently."

"How much of that did you hear exactly?" Shanks asked nervously.

"Everything that I needed to," Marco answered. "Especially the parts where you were giving Ace all the information he needed to kill me."

"Hey, I said that I thought he shouldn't kill you!" Shanks reminded insistently. "I said that he would regret it and that you were a good guy, see that makes us allies right."

"Allies, yoi?" Marco repeated tilting his head. "Then why don't you tell me about Ace and whatever situation is keeping him bound to Teach. Also how long have you been sitting on the information that Blackbeard was active in the lowest caste district? It's not very friendly to keep that kind of information for your ally, yoi."

"Seeing as you know how to break into this place I'm surprised it took you this long to find out." Shanks replied. "Anyway you know as well as I that Whitebeard's health isn't getting any better, it might not be that best to go after Teach so recklessly."

"Oyaji isn't weak, and didn't you just say that you weren't sure how a battle between the two of us will end?" Marco retorted. "Do you think Teach is stronger than us or you for that matter, yoi?"

"I think he's a dangerous wild card." Shanks admitted. "He wanted that devil's fruit for some reason and until we know exactly why, it's hard to figure out what would happen if a war broke out."

"The yami-yami no mi," Marco said deep in thought before shifting back to the topic at hand. "Anyway you've given away my intentions to Ace, so I think you owe me some information in return. So why don't you tell me, who is Sabo? And, how is he connected to Ace and Teach?"

Shanks swallowed thickly, he didn't want to sell out Ace, but at the same time he knew Marco was dangerous and wasn't sure how he would respond if he refused. Personally, he thought it might be in Ace's best interest if Marco knew the truth. That would still be betraying Ace's trust in some way.

"That's something Ace made me promise to never tell anyone about." Shanks said steadily. "If you want to know so badly, why don't you ask him yourself?"

Marco smirked fiendishly, feeling as though Shanks didn't quite comprehend the situation at the moment. He wasn't really asking, more like demanding. Marco turned and locked the door to the office before turning back to the red haired man and getting close enough to me threatening. Shanks' fingers brushed the hilt of the sword but Marco seemed unconcerned.

"Marco," Shanks said threateningly.

"I've heard you've been trying to woo the greatest swordsman, Mihawk, for a little over three months now." Marco spoke suddenly with narrowed eyes. "I'd hate to see his reaction when he finds out about the alter you have to him behind this cabinet, yoi."

Shanks immediately paled and started to sweat. He didn't understand how Marco could have found out about that. The small alter was well hidden by the cabinet and password protected. So for Marco to have found out about his most embarrassing obsession, Marco would have had to have broken into his office while no one was there, moved the cabinet, and entered the correct password on the keypad. When did Marco have time to do that and for what reason? Did he do it just in case he needed to blackmail him at some time? Shanks' mouth open and closed a few times like a fish trying to breathe air while Marco stood there smiling in an amused manner.

"Even if that were true, Mihawk wouldn't believe you," Shanks suggested trying to find an escape from this situation.

"Once he sees the photographs I have, I'm pretty sure he'll believe me just fine, yoi." Marco replied. "And, don't even think about trying to take them from me; I'm much better at concealing things than you are. Also, how did you steal that man's toothbrush exactly? Did you go dumpster diving for it or did you somehow break into his house? That voodoo doll you have of him really gives me the creeps too."

Shanks then knew that Marco wasn't lying and that Marco would have only too much fun ruining his chances with Mihawk. He had been had but at least it was to someone who wasn't completely abusing it. Marco wasn't someone to ruin people's lives for no reason after all. That being said if he had the need to use information that he had against you he wouldn't hesitate either.

"What information do you want exactly?" Shanks asked dejectedly. "And I want those pictures in exchange for it."

"I don't think you are allowed to make demands of me right now, yoi." Marco replied with a smile.

"Marco, please," Shanks begged. "If Mihawk finds out he'll never even consider one date please."

Marco sighed, "You can have half of them but the other half I keep until this mess with Ace is resolved. After all, he didn't need to blackmail you for information about me."

"Fine," Shanks whined. "What exactly do you want to know that you didn't overhear from our conversation? I'm only giving you the basics since you're blackmailing me."

"Fire enough, yoi." Marco agreed. "Who is Sabo and how is Teach controlling Ace? What exactly is Teach forcing Ace to do?"

"Sabo is Ace's brother, one of two, although they aren't biologically related. Sabo is the older of Ace's two brother with Luffy being the youngest among the three of them." Shanks explained. "Ace and Sabo got caught up in an incident with Blackbeard, which resulted in the two of them being captured this happened six years ago when Ace was fifteen. Blackbeard was already starting to run prostitution rings then even while he was still with you guys. He was doing it right underneath your nose, you let your guard down too much."

"As if I don't already realize that," Marco said begrudgingly. "Are you trying to imply that it's our fault that Teach has been abusing Ace and others of the lower castes, yoi?"

"I'm saying that if you had caught on a little quicker things at the very least wouldn't be as bad for Ace as they are right now," Shanks admitted.

"I don't see you rushing to his defense, yoi." Marco retorted annoyed that Shanks' words were causing guilt to coil in his stomach. "Maybe if you tell me how bad things are right now I could fix them."

"Ace and Sabo managed to really piss Blackbeard off, so he decided to punish them." Shanks continued. "Blackbeard decided to make Ace work for him as punishment, since Ace wasn't bad looking. Blackbeard thought he could make a killing off him and he'd never have to worry about Ace running away or committing suicide like many of his other workers had because he decided to keep Sabo as a prisoner. Sabo would only be safe if Ace did what he was told and let himself be used to make his captor money."

Marco's stomach turned a bit upon hearing this. He had known some of the lower caste went into prostitution to make ends meet but he had never heard about forced prostitution before. He still couldn't understand how this had been able to happen while they had been keeping an eye on Teach.

"Things got much worse after Blackbeard got his hands on that devil's fruit though." Shanks continued. "With those powers he can put his darkness inside other and deprive them of any and all of their sense. He often uses it on Ace if he steps even a toe out of line and Sabo seems almost to be permanently suffering from those effects. The last time Ace saw Sabo he was in really bad shape and I'm sure he hasn't gotten any better since then. Who knows if the kid is even sane anymore after that? Anyway that's why Ace is bound to obey Blackbeard, if he doesn't Sabo could very easily be killed. Blackbeard offered to free both Ace from his forced work and Sabo from imprisonment if Ace managed to kill you. To me that sounds like a tempting offer and they only way Ace could make sure both he and Sabo don't wind up dead before their thirty."

"So that's it," Marco says understanding. "Teach has a hostage that he's using to control Ace. That does complicate things a little."

"So what are you going to do?" Shanks askes.

"I'm going to kill that traitor." Marco answers, "Ace is still a good avenue to use to do that. If I let me would be assassin close to me and let Blackbeard think that his noose is around my neck I'll have a chance to attack him when he least expects it."

"That's a dangerous plan." Shanks responds. "If you aren't careful you really will end up dead."

"You said yourself you weren't sure if Ace would be able to kill me, yoi." Marco retorts. "Plus you know there aren't many ways I can die with my powers. It's highly unlikely that Ace or Teach would be able to change that."

"Marco," Shanks hesitated, "Do you want to die?"

Marco stood up and got ready to leave as he did he couldn't help wondering if that was true or not. Maybe, subconsciously, he did want to die, surrounded by family and friends, not left behind to rot when they were gone. However rotting away while the other were able to move on was his fate, a fate he accepted after becoming Oysji's son. He would be the leader once Oyaji was gone, an eternally living figure who watch everyone die around him with no way to follow them.

"It's stupid to wish for the impossible, yoi." Marco muttered under his breath before leaving the office and Shanks behind him.

Shanks shook his head in disapproval. He could still remember when Marco was actually happy, before he gained his powers and realized their effect and cost. Most people would kill to become immortal not realizing how lonely they would become in the end. It was some kind of irony that the immortal phoenix only craved the one thing he couldn't have; death.

…

Law found that Zoro was very bad at giving direction and kept saying that as long as the streets didn't move this path was the on to his groups base. Law had ultimately decided to look up a map rather than relying on horrible instructions from a green haired man with no sense of direction. It was no surprised to Law now that Zoro had ended up completely lost and in Mariejois where Sanji had found him. At least he didn't have to worry about the man trying to kidnap Sanji, he would never be able to find his way out of Mariejois.

Law saw the Thousand Sunny bar come into view and two marines obviously guarding it from not far away. Law didn't understand why there would be guards right by a rebel hangout but decided not to worry about it, most people in this town knew who he was and not to mess with him at this point. He did have a golden collar of a surgeon after all and that was the highest caste below the Celestial Dragons.

The collars told of the people's place, of how to treat them, and of what they deserve either good or bad. Each person born was assigned a collar at the age of eight, after two years of testing. The only exception to that rule was the mighty Celestial Dragons who received their golden collars adorned in stones when they were born. The collars received at birth marked them as above the law; any law. That's why they could do whatever they pleased from making slaves out of the general public or to murder anyone they pleased on a whim.

Everyone else was assigned their collars. It was meant to be a fair process, but all too often children that came from low caste parents were stuck in that caste as well; same with the high caste citizens. If you were born to high caste parents you were likely to get that caste no matter how terribly you tested.

Next came people who tested or were born highest wore golden collars without any stone. Those were the well-educated caste; people who became lawyers, doctors, surgeons, and law makers. They had privileges that extended above the law as well although not as highly as the Celestial Dragons. These were also the only ones who had access to knowledge and education, everyone else was less educated because society didn't want the lesser beings in society to think they were entitled to anything and therefore, why educate them?

Next were the military; they wore silver collars with stones. Many people were assigned this because they were easy to manipulate and strong; people who wouldn't question the government's unfair laws and yet would love to have authority. Still, even this caste played by rules of birth.

Then came the entrepreneur class; those that have the drive and the innovation to start and manage business that could uphold the society's economy; people who own restaurants, stores, and places for entertainment. They were given silver collars with no stones in them. These were the more normal inhabitants of the country. They had to abide by the often cruel and unusual laws, but still had normal rights and a means to make a good amount of money.

Next to the lowest caste were the people with copper collars; these people made up most of the work force. The ones with stones were somewhat skilled workers such as mechanics, or technicians, which had to learn specific skills to work. The ones that didn't have stones were the people who made up the unskilled labor force such as factory workers. These people were above the poverty line but not extremely well off. Also they were often subject to a sort of discrimination from the upper classes.

Finally was the lowest caste that wore iron collars were the untouchables. There were many ways one could end up in the lowest caste. For one, children born from the lower classes who showed no potential were often thrown away to this caste. The government also liked to weed out individuals who were likely to rebel into the caste to keep any rebellions from starting; this also applies to anyone that committed a crime. When one commits a crime their collar is changed to that of the lowest caste as well, though only the lower castes were even under the law. That is the only change of caste that is allowed by the society.

Law truly despised the laws of their society but as he reached up to touch his gold collar he could only think of Sanji. Law's parents had been in the gold collar caste as well but they and his sister had died for illness when he was young, before his was able to take the placement test. This meant that Law didn't have the benefit of parents in the same caste to help him get the same collar. Instead he had been viewed as an orphan with no collar status to help him. It had been Sanji in the end who had pulled strings even at a young age to get him to where he was even after Law had been too afraid to reach out to him. He truly owed Sanji his life, which is why he'd do anything to protect him. Although there had been one other person he also owed his life to, in the end Law couldn't help that man.

Law approached the bar and he could hear a very loud conversation coming from the inside. Law decided that it would be best to eavesdrop for a little while to see what exactly he was walking into and what he should do with these supposedly good people. Were they going to hurt Sanji or were they not? He could find out easily by listening. The guards across the street were eyeing him suspiciously, but Law knew they couldn't move against him; he was above their caste and a friend of a Celestial Dragon. They knew that, Law was certain. Law listened intently to the conversation taking place on the other side of the wall and ignored the guards' presence all together.

"WHAT?" Luffy screamed loudly, "ZORO GOT CAPTURED BY A CELESTIAL DRAGON."

"KEEP QUIET!" Nami yelled hitting her captain on the head.

"What do we do?" Luffy asked "Where is this guy? We gotta save Zoro!"

"Luffy calm down, we can do anything until Robin gets back with information anyway." Ussop suggested.

"But it's a Celestial Dragon!" Luffy argued.

"I can see why you're concerned," Brook said with his high voice. "Celestial Dragons are known for their cruelty to the other castes."

Laws eyes narrowed as his listed as he frowned and an evil tight grin appeared on this face. That green haired man had been full of crap. However, Law held himself back and let the conversation play out a little more.

"I know that," Nami agreed. "Celestial Dragons are the worst. There's not a single good one in the whole lot of them. I wished they'd all just die already, but we can't just charge in and attack them at random the military would slaughter us. Which is why we have to wait for Robin to get back so we know who exactly we're dealing with."

"And then we can go and beat them up and take back Zoro!" Luffy announced in understanding.

"And steal al lot of money," Nami added, "Celestial Dragons are all rich, after all."

"Good idea Nami!" Luffy agreed. "Beat them up, rescue Zoro, steal their money, and then we eat meat!"

"Guys, I have a really bad feeling about this," Ussop tried to intercede.

"Can we have cotton candy too?" Chopper asked excitedly, drowning out Ussop.

"A feast to fill my stomach," Brook said with a laugh, "If I had one that is."

The Strawhats started to drown each other out and it was at this time that Law decided to make his entrance. They started to shout excitedly about their target and what they'd hoped would be a celebration afterward completely unaware of Law's presence.

"Room," Law said activating his powers and allowing it to encircle the Strawhats that were all standing together.

Luffy alone noticed and jumped out of the way knocking Nami out of the sphere as well. Lawspowers disassembled the other standing there as if they were toys with detachable limbs; separating their legs and arms from their torsos. There was no blood however, just strewn body parts and screams of terror and confusion from those who had been caught. Luffy turned his face to see Law standing there sword in hand looking pissed.

"Oi, what did you do to my nakama?" Luffy shouted angrily.

"Nothing more than what you all were planning to do to my friend." Law replied. "Did you really think that you could attack and steal from Sanji? Did you think because Krieg surprised him that you could get away with it? How much do you know and how long have you been planning this charade?"

"Charade? Sanji?" Luffy questioned in confusion. "What are you talking about? Put my friends back together!"

"Not until you answer my questions." Law retorted. "Did you purposefully send that green haired buffoon to lure Sanji into a false sense of friendship?"

"Green haired buffoon?" Nami asked before coming to a realization. "Zoro, are you the one who took him? You're not a Celestial Dragon."

"No, my friend is, and you were just plotting to hurt him."

"Celestial Dragons hurt everyone else!" Nami argued angrily. "Why shouldn't we hurt him if he hurt our friend?"

"Your friend is the one who's hurting him!" Law responded enraged. "You all crafted this plan to hurt him."

"Liar," Nami screamed.

"Gomu-gomu no," Luffy said gearing up for an attack.

"Room," Law responded.

Nami braced herself to make a run to help the other while Luffy was taking out the intruder before something unexpected happen. Suddenly hundreds of hands appeared out of nowhere to hold both Luffy and Law back from attacking each other.

"Wait," Robin said overexerting herself to keep the other two in place. "There's been a misunderstanding!"

"Robin," Nami called out thankfully.

"Luffy," Robin began, "We had it wrong. There were rumors going around about a Celestial Dragon having captured Zoro, but they're only partially true. Zoro wasn't captured by a Celestial Dragon but rather helped by him, even maybe rescued by him from the guards. The Celestial dragon did put on a show to get the guards to leave but this Celestial Dragon is known for being against the caste system and helping those in lower castes not hurting them."

"Can that really be true, all Celestial Dragons are the same they only hurt others and they only help themselves." Nami stated.

"Don't speak about him when you don't know him," Law seethed, hating being held back, hating being touched by someone he didn't know. "Sanji's different than those assholes!"

"You just hurt our comrades why should we believe you?"

"You were plotting to hurt my friend, why shouldn't I kill you?"

"Wait, so Zoro isn't hurt or in trouble?" Luffy asked sound both confused and slightly relieved.

"He doesn't have any injuries that he didn't have before Sanji found him if that's what you mean, and Sanji had me treat those." Law explained still fuming.

"I still don't believe you how can we know for sure?" Nami asked.

Robin released both of the boys seeing that there wouldn't be any more fighting that day. Law shivered uncomfortably and dusted himself off as if being touched had made him dirty. Luffy started to jump up and down excitedly as robin moved to put the members of their crew back together while the others talked.

"What's your name? Who's Sanji? Can we see Zoro? Where do you live? Wanna join my crew?" Luffy asked Law in rapid fire manner.

"Law, and why should I let you see him, you were going to attack my friend a little bit ago." Law responded.

"But we didn't know he was a good guy then," Luffy whined.

Law was fuming but he conceded a little. "Fine but I'm only taking one of you."

…

 _ **I was really trying to get this out on my birthday but it didn't happen. My birthday was 11/22 by the way. Anyway sorry for no Zoro and Sanji this chapter, they will be in the next one, and sorry for all the errors this wasn't edited. Please leave a review. I hoped you liked it.**_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

"Give me the damn remote, you shitty cook!" Zoro growled threateningly.

Sanji held the remote in one hand leaning away from Zoro on the couch while he held the injured man back from grabbing it with one of his legs as the other was braced to keep him in place. Zoro was trying to reach the remote but the reach was too far in this position. Both were glaring furiously into each other's eyes tension filling the room.

"My house, my remote, therefore, I get to choose what we watch, stupid marimo!" Sanji shouted in retaliation.

"You're choosing stupid gushy chick flics!" Zoro argued.

"They're not stupid!" Sanji replied enraged. "They're romantic and beautiful!"

"It's not real, nothing like that ever happens, stupid Ero-cook!" Zoro raged.

"You don't know that!" Sanji claimed. "And what's so realistic about the stupid time traveling samurai show you want to watch so badly?"

"At least it's interesting!" Zoro retorted.

"Romance is interesting!"

…

Law was unsurprised when the Stawhat crew had decided to have their captain follow him back to Sanji's. Both because said Captain was so insistent on going that most of the other stopped arguing immediately and because the woman with the strange manifesting hands, Robin, had said that it would be safest if by chance something did go sideways. Law was just happy that it wasn't Robin who was going with them. He could still feel those hands on him and it was a feeling he very quickly wanted to rid himself of. He hated being touched by anyone who wasn't extremely close to him. He didn't allow anyone other than Sanji and his own crew members touch him. He would need to shower many times to wash away the memories of today and those hands.

Still, he couldn't help but find the Strawhat Captain annoying at best. He was exactly like a child, as Law led him through the streets to go to Sanji's house. For one, the teen didn't seem to value silence in the same way Law did as he never seemed to shut up.

"What was that power you used? It's a Devil's fruit, right?" Luffy babbled unaware of how uncomfortable he was making his companion with his constant chatter. "What Devil's fruit is it? I ate a Devil's fruit too! I ate the Gomu Gomu no mi."

Law sighed but replied, "Yes, I ate a Devil's Fruit; the Ope Ope no mi."

Luffys eyes shined as he said, "So Cool!"

Law sighed as he felt Luffy's shoulder against his and immediately tried to walk slightly farther away from the young man. Law wondered why he was walking so close to him anyway. They weren't friends and they'd just met so why did this guy feel the need to be so close to him. Law disliked it and it was making him uneasy. He walked faster to get to Sanji's place just a little faster.

"Does Sanji have a Devil's fruit too?" Luffy continued his rapid-fire questionnaire. "That would explain how he captured Zoro."

"Didn't your friend just explain that Sanji helped Zoro not capture him?" Law asked annoyed.

"Yeah, but Zoro doesn't really need saving." Luffy retorted. "Zoro's strong enough to escape on his own."

"Not in the condition he was last night, especially with guards tracking him and his horrible sense of direction." Law argued.

"Zoro's a funny guy, but he's strong." Luffy laughed.

"That doesn't make me feel any more comfortable with letting him stay with Sanji. In fact, it really makes me want to tell you to grab your crewmate and get out of Mariejois already." Law responds.

"Why?" Luffy asks sounding slightly offended almost like he's pouting.

"I don't trust you or your friend especially around Sanji, and I'm not about to let someone take advantage of his kindness again." Law said turning to Luffy again. "Which is why you need to understand one thing. I want you and your green haired companion out of our lives as quickly as possible, and if that means I have to force you out myself when you start to get too close to Sanji, then I will."

"Why, Zoro's a good guy," Luffy pouted.

"I have no reason to believe that, after all, you'd have plenty of reasons to lie to me." Law reasoned. "Celestial Dragons are powerful and valuable in our society and there are plenty of rebels like yourself who'd love to have one under their control. It would be like having someone on the inside, but that won't happen, at least not with Sanji, I won't let it."

"I don't know Sanji though, and we aren't like that." Luffy argues.

"I have no proof of that however, and I have no reason to trust someone who was just talking about assaulting my best friend." Law answered.

"No fair, we thought Zoro was kidnapped." Luffy muttered.

"It doesn't matter anyway, there's no reason for us to need to trust each other anyway, hopefully this will all be over quickly, and we won't ever have to see each other again. Sanji will just move on to the next sob story pet project and you and your crew can go back to doing whatever you do."

"I going to be King of the Rebels, and I'm going to beat up all those people who made this world like this." Luffy announces enough to draw a little attention from everyone else passing by.

"Good luck with that," Law huffed. "there's no chance you can do that as you are now. It's not even something I'm capable of yet."

"Hey, are you saying you're better than me?" Luffy askes slightly irritated.

"Someone as oblivious as you has no chance of making any long term changes." Law responds. "Let's be generous and say you can beat up everyone you aim to, you still would have to be able to enact the correct changes that would stop a power vacuum from being created in those people's absence. Something tells me that you aren't the type of person who thinks that far ahead."

"Robin can figure that stuff out though," Luffy responded. "I'm not alone. I have my crew, they'll figure that out."

"So, you basically don't have any plans." Law states unimpressed, before he notices the news on some screens in an electronics store, and a familiar face that sparks intense hatred within him.

Luffy opens his mouth to respond when he notices that Law has stopped in front of the electronics stores with screens showing the news of the day. Laws muscles are tense and Luffy can sense that something is wrong. He retraces his steps to stand beside Law.

"Renown criminal and rebel Don Flamingo, has spent the last fourteen years in Impel Down, a maximum-security prison, after he was found guilty of multiple counts of abuse, assault, exploitation of a child, and threatening a Celestial Dragon. However, Warden Magellen has announces today that Don Flamingo will be moved to lower security prison for his good behavior. Magellen said that he was personally against the move but that the order was passed down from very high in the chain of command." A female reporter explains.

"Many experts worry that this will move will drive the man's rebel companions to try to break him out of his new jail. Don Flamingo's crew has remained active while he was imprisoned, although less so than when he was free." A male reporter picks up.

"Bullshit." Law breathes quietly. "As if you assholes didn't plan for exactly that to happen, anyone can guess that."

"Do you know that guy?" Luffy asks.

Law realizes that he's given a little bit more away then he wanted to in concerns to Luffy. He didn't need the Strawhat captain to know anything about him and Don flamingo, however he did need to get home and warn Sanji that this was happening. He had always worried that this day would come, but Don Flamingo had been locked up tight in the lowest level of Impel Down and he had been safe as long as that was the case. So why was he being moved now of all times.

"This move will be happening in a couple weeks, as many lawmakers and military try to convince officials to renege this proposal because of the risk of the prisoner escaping." The female reporter added before shifting attention to another topic. "In other news, Transponder snails are growing rapidly in popularity and that may cause an unexpected shortage."

"It's nothing," Law replies after a long pause. "We should continue on, Sanji and Zoro might be wondering if I'd decided to just go ahead and decapitate the lot of you."

"Hey, that's not cool!"

…

Marco walked through the lowest Caste district, not knowing exactly where he was going, and not caring too much about speed. He needed time to process everything he learned from Shanks. What was the best way to approach the boy now that Shanks had given away his plan and what exactly should his actions be now that he knew what the stakes were for Ace. Ace will see right through everything he tries to do to win him over now. However, he'll also see through whatever Ace tries to do to lure him into his death as well.

He worries that Shanks will let Ace know that Marco is on to his plan now. However, it didn't particularly matter, Ace would most likely still try to kill him with his brother's life being at stake. If would be best if Shanks kept his mouth shut, but he couldn't guarantee that he would. If Ace found out that Marco knew about his assassination plan, Marco doubted any amount of acting would allow Ace to believe that Marco was falling into his trap.

Acting would be dangerous as well, there was a reason why Marco didn't let many people close to him after all. It's hard to not develop some sort of feeling for other people if they were close to you all the time. It also didn't help that Ace was fairly attractive either, however it had been a long time since Marco had allowed himself to notice that about anyone. In truth, the last person he had thought that about was the man whose underground casino he had just left and that was when they we younger and Marco hadn't been aware of his powers effects quite yet.

Back then, he was the one that Shanks had been pursuing and at first the constant flirting had been quite annoying. He had his powers for about ten years at that point and at the time he'd thought maybe he was one of those lucky people that still looked young despite not being it. Perhaps, he had just not wanted to accept the consequences of his new-found powers. He had still been Oyaji's son back then and the red-heads constant nagging him to leave also annoyed him. Looking back Marco didn't quite understand why he'd agreed to their tryst to begin with.

Although calling it a tryst was probably going too far. They'd never been romantically interested in each other really although they did engage in a bit foreplay when they would meet. However, they weren't ever dating. It was more like two people that found each other physically attractive fulfilling each other's needs since neither of them had a partner. Their sessions were always quick and passionate, but no words of love were ever whispered between them. It was a several months into their arrangement that Marco had come a across a rare encyclopedia of all the Devil's fruits and had realized the full extent of what his did.

 _For three weeks after finding out that information he had locked himself in his house and refused to come out or answer the door for anyone. He'd even put several locks on the secret passage that led from his house to some of his brother's. Needless to say, his family had started to panic, when they knocked and shouted the only response he would give them was to tell them to leave him alone. He couldn't come to terms with the fact that they all would die and he would be left behind in the world all alone forever._

 _It was eventually Oyaji himself that came and broke down the door to his house to get through to him. He hadn't even gotten up from being curled up under the covers in his bed when he heard the door getting broken down. He figured if someone was there to kill him that they'd be unable to anyway. However, as the footsteps of the intruder got closer he was able to recognize them as Oyaji's. He didn't bother to get up or try to make himself presentable, so the man came to stand by the bed._

" _You're worrying everyone, Marco." Oyaji chided softly. "To be hiding in your bed not coming out when your family is worried about you is childish beyond measure for your age and intelligence. You're the one who's in charge of watching over everyone else, things haven't gone as smoothly in your absence. We need you Marco. So, what has you so upset to be hiding here?"_

" _That, yoi." Marco grumbled and point at the dreadful book still sitting on his end-table._

 _Marco was only partially visible with only his one arm and the upper part of his head sticking out of his covers, which made Oyaji think of a small child. It made him remember that Marco had been very young when he'd became his first son and the way the man had been as a child._

 _Marco watched hesitantly as Oyaji moved to the end table to look at the book which had been left open to the page about Marco's devils fruit. Oyaji raised an eyebrow as if to question why a book had his first commander locking himself away from the world. Oyaji carefully picked up the old and rare book and started to read the passage. Marco watched expectantly as he watched his father's eye go back and forth reading each line. Slowly he watched the man's mouth become a thin line and Marco knew that he'd now understood exactly why he didn't want to move from his bed anymore._

" _You're all going to die." Marco spoke sadly. "We're rebels so we face death every day, but I thought at least I stood about the same chance of dying as everyone else, but that's not true, yoi. I haven't aged since I ate the fruit, now I know that I can't ever age. Even if everyone survives until they die of old age, I'll still have to watch them grow old and die and I won't be able to do so alongside them. All of you will die and I'll be left alone, so what's the point of being close to anyone, if I'm just going to end up miserable and alone in the end."_

 _So, you're going to stay here and mourn for people who haven't even died yet?" Oyaji grumbled. "You're already too close to everyone to pull away now. If you stay locked up here, you'll just miss out on the years that you can have to be with your family; a family that depends on and loves you very much. You're not saving yourself from any pain this way, Marco, you're just giving tomorrows problem control over your life today."_

" _If I had known the consequences, I would've never have eaten that fruit." Marco stated curling up more into himself._

" _And you're planning on traveling through time to stop yourself?"_

" _No, yoi."_

" _Then there's no point in thinking about something that's impossible." Oyaji said with a sigh. "I won't tell you what you should do. You already know that you'll always be my son even if you decide to become a hermit that hide away from the world because he's too afraid of being hurt. However, if there's one thing about family that you should understand by now, it's that family never stops growing even as time continues to move on. The original members of your family may be gone but there will always be others that come to be a part of it as long as you keep your heart and mind open."_

Oyaji's words had reached him back then and made him feel better although not really any less depressed about the fact that he would lose everyone he knew and loved eventually. He had gone back to be an important part of their family then, hoping that Oyaji was correct and that he'd never truly be alone because his family would always keep growing.

However, he'd never again allowed himself to engage in the world of romance. Sometimes, he'd have a one-night stand to satisfy his needs, but he'd never date anyone or have another arrangement like what he'd had with Shanks. In his opinion, even something like that was too dangerous for him. He couldn't imagine being in love with someone, and loving them more than anyone or anything else, and then having to watch them age and die and not being able to do so alongside them. Marco prided himself on knowing exactly how much pain he could withstand, and he knew without trying that losing someone that important was something that he wouldn't be able to endure.

As, Marco walks through the lowest caste district thinking of such things of his fate and what he should do about Teach, he's unaware of a man that walks towards his direction. That man, Monkey D. Garp, is also lost in his own thoughts to some extent. Garp's mind is preoccupied with thoughts of his grandsons, of mistakes he made, and how he wanted to prevent himself from allowing them to be repeated. Garp couldn't allow Luffy to fall victim to the same fate as Ace had and, in his mind, Garp thought that keeping the two of them apart was the best action to accomplish that goal.

Garp had come all the way out to the lowest caste district that day to track down Ace and to beat some sense into him. Garp knew that Ace would never intentionally hurt Luffy or get him involved in a situation that would get him sentenced to be an untouchable, but that didn't change the fact that being around Ace was dangerous for Luffy. If someone with a golden collar or higher tried to hurt or even threatened Ace, Garp knew that Luffy would intervene, and that would be more than enough to earn him the same fate as Ace himself, especially if Luffy fought with someone like that. Therefore, even if his two grandsons loved each other like brothers, he couldn't allow them to meet. It was too dangerous for Luffy to be involved in Ace's life anymore. If only they weren't so stubborn and would listen to a word he said.

However, it was the familiar figure of a very wanted individual that pulled Garp out of his thoughts. Marco, after all, was a very recognizable man, especially with the large tattoo boldly showing on his uncovered chest. Garp was distracted from his hunt to find Ace as he wondered why Whitebeard's right-hand man would be wandering around the lowest caste district. Garp was disturbed and annoyed at the blond man's presence.

"What are you doing so far away from Whitebeard territory, Phoenix." Garp asked crossing his arms and standing up straight in an imposing manner.

Marco looked at the marine with a bored expression. Now that he'd been made aware of the man's presence, Marco wondered why such a high-level marine would be in the lowest caste district, everyone knew that the marines couldn't care less about the citizens who lived here. Marco looked the man from head to toe and raised an eyebrow wondering if the man thought his stance was intimidating when Marco just thought it seemed like the man had a literal stick up his ass. Marco couldn't help but smirk in his lazy way and place a hand on his hip as his posture remained relaxed in front of such a dangerous opponent.

"I could ask you a similar question, yoi." Marco replies in a state of amusement. "It's strange to see someone as important as you out on these humble streets. You're also fairly close to Shanks' territory, which I wouldn't suggest you venture into when you're alone like this. I may have an agreement with Shanks, but I highly doubt you can say the same. So, why would a marine come all the way out here, yoi?"

"I'm free to go wherever I want, because, unlike you, I'm not a wanted criminal and rebel." Garp responds stiffly. "You're also here alone, I see. Without any of your family around, maybe I should take this opportunity to put you where you belong; the lowest level of Impel Down."

"I think you'd be the one needing reinforcements if we were to fight, yoi." Marco said with a small smile. "Being able to capture me is an impossible dream for you, especially when you're here alone. I always thought you had all your marine underlings following you around, but I suppose you weren't wise enough to bring them along with you today."

"You Devil's fruit users think you're invincible, but how many of you are dead or imprisoned because of me?" Garp boasts.

"Perhaps you're partially right, yoi." Marco remarked with a shrug. "You've made quite the name for yourself. However, I'm not some overconfident young-blood that's just starting out. I know how to deal with pesky marines like you, I've been doing it for a long time now. I know that your haki won't help you if you can't even hit me, and I don't think you'd be able to if we were to be serious about fighting today. So why don't you tell me why a vice fleet admiral is walking through the lowest cast district looking like he really wants to hit something, or rather someone?"

"It's nothing that concerns you or your family and even if it did I would never tell you." Garp growls. "I should be the one asking you what you're doing here. Is Whitebeard planning on making a move in this area? Is that why he sent his first mate to scope out the area or are you acting on your own as you've been know to do from time to time only calling in the old man when you need to."

"It's more along the lines of correcting a mistake." Marco supplied nonchalantly, knowing that Garp wouldn't know how to make heads or tails of that statement.

Garp grunts noncommittally. Marco eyes the marine curiously, as the man doesn't seem too interested in attacking him no matter what threats come out of his mouth. The marine is merely keeping him in the area, he's not rushing to attack him as most marines would have by now. However, Garp wasn't nearly as dumb as he seemed sometimes, and Marco knew that very well. Maybe that's why the marine hadn't attacked him as it wouldn't make sense to attack an opponent you weren't sure you could handle especially if alone. Still, that peaked Marco's curiosity even more as he itched to gage the famous marine's prowess for himself. Marco thought that he might want to try to get a rise out of the old marine, of course he wouldn't stick around for long, but it would be valuable information for him to have in the future.

"Why would the World government care if we were to make a move in this district as you say, yoi?" Marco asked starting to bait the other man. "Everyone knows how little the government and the marines care about the residents of this district and the lowest caste in general. Your laws don't protect them in the slightest, you won't even allow them to get treatment for their injuries and illnesses. I doubt that any of you would think that their lives are worth saving, yoi."

"You shut your damn mouth phoenix, or you'll be finding my fist in it soon." Garp threatened.

Garp can't help but have his mind drift to Ace as worry and a small amount of guilt coils in his stomach. He'd always tried not to think about what Ace had to deal with, maybe to spare himself the pain or maybe to stop himself from interfering with justice, if one could call it justice. He couldn't help but feel dread surround him when he thought of a future where Ace could be injured and turned away from any doctor because they wouldn't dirty their hands and facilities by helping an untouchable. Garp knew that Ace and others like him were always close to death in that way, but he despised having a rebel of all people reminding him of such.

"I'm sure the people of this district would fair much better if we were to take over this area. We would help them, unlike you." Marco ranted. "We would protect them, unlike you. And yet, you have the nerve to call us criminal when you all have more blood on your hands than the lot of us combined, yoi."

Marco can see how much his words are agitating the other man, and he can't help the smirk that forms on his face. He does enjoy making others see the hypocrisy in their way of life, and there was no more obvious hypocrisy than that of the marine who were supposed to protect the weak abandoning the weakest and most abused of society. He can feel feather—light flames gently, yet threateningly, rolling off his form. He was only speaking the truth, but he can easily see how much his words are irking the marine opposite him. He knew he should be watching his tongue a little more, after all, Garp was far from the worst marine Marco had the displeasure to meet. Garp, at the very least, didn't go out of his way to abuse the less fortunate, as Marco knew many marines did. However, that didn't excuse the man from standing idly by and allowing it to happen.

"Shut your damn mouth before I decide to take you in." Garp bellowed, cracking his knuckles.

"I'd like to see…" Marco began before he was cut off by a familiar voice.

"Gramps?" A confused and mildly scared voice cuts in.

Both men turn towards the new arrival, instantly forgetting that they were about to fight each other. Marco is surprised to see Ace off to the side of the road, having just come out from a side street holding a small bag of foodstuffs having obviously just come from purchasing them at the market. Marco frowns as he doesn't quite understand the situation.

"Ace!" Garp roars angrily as he finds his target, and subsequently forgets about Marco's presence entirely.

Marco slightly jumps at Garps sudden outrageous outburst, as he tries to understand how exactly how his would-be assassin and the famous marine know each other. He's surprised as he's trying to comprehend this new information that Garp rushes right past him and after Ace.

"Shit, shit, shit," Ace curses as he takes off running in an attempt to escape from the marine suddenly pursuing him.

"Don't you dare run from me you fire-brat." Garp yells chasing after his grandson furiously.

Marco stands there, still and numb as he comes to terms with the fact that a famous marine ignored a famous rebel like himself to chase after Ace. He stared blankly after them and the dust they've kicked up wondering what happened between those two to cause such a situation to occur. It made Marco wonder if there wasn't a lot more to Ace than what Marco knew about currently. Why would someone from the untouchable caste know such an important military man? Unless, of course, Garp had been the one to make Ace an untouchable, but Marco couldn't know for sure. He's heard Ace say the word 'gramps' however he didn't quite understand how they would possibly be grandfather and grandson. Had Ace done something really terrible to get on the governments bad side as well? He didn't seem like the type of kid to do something to warrant such a reaction especially when Marco was also present. Regardless, Marco knew he needed to follow the two of them instead of standing around guessing at what could have caused such a strange turn of events. Now, he was already a couple of minutes behind the two. Marco transforms into his phoenix form and takes to the sky after them.

Ace clutches his bag of groceries tightly as he runs a fast as he can away from his violent family member. He tries turning into fire to leap over building in an attempt to lose the older man but that only results in Garp bulldozing right through the buildings separating them. Ace knows the old man is serious about catching him, but he doesn't understand why Garp would come all the way out here this time. He had known that the two guards that chased him after he'd tried to get to the Sunny, would inform Garp about what happened, but he didn't expect Garp to go through the trouble of coming all the way out here to find him. After all this wasn't the first time he'd come close to being captured by those guards when he'd tried to meet up with Luffy. Why was the old man coming after him so seriously this time?

"Why can't you just leave me alone already?" Ace angrily screamed back at the man chasing him.

"If you just did what I told you to then I wouldn't have to track you down and discipline you." Garp shouted in return.

"Like hell I'm going to listen to you, crazy old man." Ace yelled in response before noticing that he'd run straight into a dead-end alleyway. "Shit."

"There's no where left to run, Ace." Garp gloated. "Now I can straighten you out with my fists of love."

"No matter how many times you hit me, now matter how much it hurts, I'm never going to stop trying to see him." Ace declared even as he tried to shrink back from the marine. "We're brothers. No matter how many guards you place around him or how much you threaten me, I'll always find a way to be there for him."

Garp surged forward aiming at Ace's face, and Ace barely manages to get his arms up in time to block the hit, but his arms ache from taking it. Ace stumbles back a bit, but manages to keep his footing. He hated that his powers didn't protect him when Garp attacked. It seemed that whenever he really needed his powers they just weren't enough to fend off the attacks; whether in concerns to his grandfather or Teach. Ace glared at the marine, but bit back a response that he knew would only cause the man to level more attacks at him.

"You know I only keep the two of you apart to protect him." Garp growled. "The more time he spends with you, the more likely he'll be to end up like you; an untouchable."

"I would never do anything that would cause that to happen." Ace exclaimed angrily, unable to hold the words back. "I would never let him do something that would cause that to happen. I would never hurt him like that. He's my crybaby little brother, and I love him too much to let that happen."

"Even if you wouldn't intend for it to happen, Luffy being around you is too much of a risk for me to just stand idly by." Garp explained. "If he knew everything the other castes can and often do to people of your caste, do you think he'd be able to sit back and watch it happen to you? If he got between you and someone of too high of a caste like, god forbid, a Celestial Dragon, well you know exactly what would happen to him, don't you?"

"What, with you just standing there watching while they drag him away to hurt him the same way they did me, whist you do nothing to stop it." Ace spat as he remembered things better left forgotten.

Garp flinched at the venom in Ace's words, as if they had physically struck him. They caused him to feel like a giant hole had been opened in his chest and the pain radiated from there throughout his chest. He found comfort in telling himself that there was nothing that he could've done, that it was beyond his control. However, sometimes he couldn't help but worry that those sweet things he told himself weren't true at all, but just a way to clear his conscience. He breathed slowly, but even as he recovered he was still seething enraged.

"I did everything I could for you." Garp stated. "You were the one who threw that away. I can't help you anymore, not where you are now. I can only protect Luffy now, and I don't care what I have to do to accomplish that, even if that means I have to tear you two apart from each other."

"How are you protecting him by keeping us apart." Ace questioned somberly, not accepting Garp's excuses. "You're only hurting both of us by keeping us apart."

"I'm keeping him from doing stupid things that could get him punished. We both know that he'd try to protect you if he knew what you had to deal with daily, and that alone could be enough to make him into an untouchable." Garp argued. "If you keep trying to reach out to him even after I've told you this hundreds of times, then I'll have to force the two of you apart myself."

"How," Ace asked incredulously. "Are you going to arrest me, lock me up in Impel Down, and throw away the key. Or are you just going to have me executed and get rid of the burden you've had to bare this whole time? Do you think Luffy will ever trust you again if you do that? Do you think he'd be okay with that outcome? Do you think that would keep him safe and happy?"

"I don't think I'd need to go that far." Garp says grimly. "I'd just need to tell him what you've been doing to make a living lately. Tell me how long have you been selling yourself as a whore?"

Ace froze stiffly, and he could feel the blood drain from his face. He'd never thought that Garp would learn about his job with Teach. He even begged Teach not to give him any marine clients so that he could hide the information from Garp and Luffy. He never wanted either of them to find out about it, and Teach had eventually agreed to that one rule, not wanting Garp to find out either. Ace didn't understand how Garp could have come across that information, he'd never spoken about it with anyone other than Shanks and even if Zoro had somehow figured it out since they lived together Ace was sure the swordsman wouldn't have betrayed his trust like that. So, how would Garp have found out after all this time?

"How," Ace asked hoarsely.

"How did I find out you mean." Garp replied. "A criminal I captured a week ago decided to rub in my face that fact that my grandson was a whore." Garp paused but then continued as Ace didn't say anything in defense of himself. Garp watched the younger man closely seeing the pain and shame on Ace's face grow as he spoke. "I was so shocked that he started to tell me how much you cost and exactly what he'd done to you before I caved his face in. He didn't even make it to Impel Down after that, but I doubt anyone will miss him too much. And you don't even deny it. Do you really think that you have any right to be around Luffy when that is how you've decided to live?"

"I didn't decide anything," Ace said with a voice that was below a whisper and he brought his hands up to his head wishing he could cover his ears, close his eyes, and pretend this wasn't happening.

"You dare think that you're deserving of being around Luffy when you allow anyone who pays do whatever they want to you." Garp accuses. "Do you think Luffy needs to be around someone like you? I'd guess that you wouldn't want him to figure out about your profession. Which is exactly why you're never going to go anywhere near him even again, because if you do I'm going to tell him everything that filth told me before I ended his life."

"You wouldn't," Ace accused.

"I don't think you should take that chance." Garp responded. "It's as I said, I'd do anything to protect Luffy."

Garp turned to leave and panic ran through Ace. He felt that if he let Garp leave unchallenged then he really would never see Luffy again, as he couldn't stomach the thought of Luffy ever finding out about his secret. However, he also couldn't stand to never see him again. He couldn't lose Luffy, even if it was just by not being able to see him again. He'd already lost too much, he couldn't lose Luffy too.

Ace leaped forward with a sudden need to stop Garp from leaving, to convince him to change his mind. Ace reached out and grabbed one of Garp's elbows in an attempt to make him stay and listen to reason. However, Ace was too reckless in his actions and Garp didn't take kindly to being held back. Garp quickly spun back and punched Ace in his solar plexus, causing the man to lose his breath, and double over, gasping for air. Ace peaked out from underneath his bangs as he saw another punch directed at his face. He squeezed his eyes closed waiting for the hit, but it didn't come.

"I see I was mistaken about you, Garp." A familiar voice said. "You are the worst the marines have to offer, yoi. I had thought that you had morals at least, but I see that I was wrong."

"Phoenix," Garp growls.

Ace straightens out after catching his breath to see Marco standing there with an annoyed expression on his face holding back Garp's arm that was about to strike Ace again. Ace meets Marco's eyes to see concern there before he tears his eyes away for the blond, ashamed of what the blond must have seen and heard before he intervened.

"What kind of person treats their family this way, yoi." Marco askes with a glare directed at the old marine. "Even when my siblings fight we'd never intentionally hurt each other like this. You have no right to call him family if that's how you're going to treat him."

"Mind your own business, criminal." Garp spat, turning his attention to the famous rebel. "He knows why this is happening. He brought this on himself."

"You sound just like every other abusive bastard I've ever met, yoi." Marco commented. "You go around hurting him and then act like somehow it's his fault when you're just taking your anger out on him. At least the word family has more meaning to us 'criminals' than it has for 'heroes' like you."

"I'm protecting my family."

"By hurting them, I doubt that, yoi." Marco retorts.

"Shut up," Garp bellowed leveling a fist at Marco.

Marco can see the move easily, as Garp allowed himself to become agitated, thus making himself too obvious in his actions. Marco ducked underneath the blow and kicked the marine in the leg with his full strength making the marine loose his footing and tumble clumsily to the ground. Marco ignored the marine who cursed him under his breath and reached out to take Ace's hand.

"Let's leave, shall we, yoi?" Marco asked casually before tugging Ace along with him as they sprinted out of the alley, away from the enraged marine.

Marco ran, pulling a confused Ace along away from Garp. However, he could hear the old man's footsteps heavy behind them. He sensed an item being thrown at them by the man and quickly moved so that he could see what looked to be a large rock fly past them swiftly.

"He's a tough one to escape, isn't he?" Marco remarks jovially, sneaking a glace back at a stressed Ace.

"Unfortunately," Ace replied. "How are we going to get away?"

"I have an idea, yoi." Marco said with an aloof smile. "Jump onto my back and wrap your arms around my neck. I'll take it from there."

"What," Ace asked in a stunned manner.

"Just trust me, I won't disappoint you, yoi." Marco reassured.

Ace didn't know exactly what Marco was planning, as his mind was too busy coming to terms with everything Garp had told him to remember what Shanks had said about Marco's devil's fruit. Ace decided that he didn't really have any option other than relying on the blond male in front of him and that he would just have to trust him this once.

"Ok," Ace agreed and was treated to a small smile from Marco in response.

Ace, having made his decision, tries not to think about what might happen if they don't escape, although he's beginning to think Marco could probably handle that situation. Ace leaps toward Marco and wraps his arms around the man's necks in one swift motion, even with his bag of groceries still dangling from his arm. As soon as Marco feels the added weight on his back he allows his phoenix form to overtake him.

Marco hears Ace gasp as the take off from the ground and into the sky. With a few beats of his fiery wings they're far above Garp and the buildings below. Ace shift to look out at the cityscape below him. His arms are still wrapped securely around Marco's neck and he could feel all those flaming feathers gently brushing against him but not burning him. With the wind against his face, Ace wondered if this was what real freedom felt like. He let himself relax a little against Marco as they flew, and just tried to enjoy the fleeting feeling for as long as it would last.

…

Luffy's jaw was hanging wide open and had been ever since they entered the highest caste district after showing the guards at the gate Law's lifetime pass he'd received from Sanji. Law didn't blame Luffy for his shock, had he not been in such a horrible state when he'd first moved in with Sanji, he'd have probably been in the same awed state.

"It's weird isn't it?" Law asked, for the first time in their walk starting up conversation himself. "Each one of these estates is only for one person or one family, but those of the lowest district don't even have room for all of them even if they lived with three families in a single shack."

"They're all so big." Luffy admitted. "Why?"

"Do they need a reason to hoard space and wealth other than the fact that they can." Law asked with a bored expression. "When you give anyone unlimited power you're taking a very large risk that they'll abuse it."

"But you said that Sanji wasn't like that." Luffy says.

"He's not," Law agreed, "I make no promises about everyone else here. Just make sure you stick close to me. Most people here know that I'm a close friend of Sanji's so as long as you're with me, you'll be fine. Although, they probably view it a little differently than Sanji and I do."

"What do you mean?" Luffy asked naively.

"Besides Sanji, all Celestial Dragons view the other castes as below them, like animals not humans." Law explained in monotone. "They probably think I'm Sanji's servant or slave, maybe even a pet of his. But, they don't know Sanji and they would never understand his propensity for helping others, even if they don't always deserve it."

"You don't think Zoro deserves his help?" Luffy asked in a concerned manner.

"I don't know." Law admitted, although he hated that he had to.

Luffy went silent again while they continued walking. Law looked over to him and saw a very serious thinking face that he had to admit was somewhat adorable. From what he'd seen of the boy so far, he was very unserious, so it was almost odd to see such a stern expression on his face. Law huff a small laugh at that, but still hoped that all these strange people would get out of his and Sanji's life soon. They were quiet until they got to Sanji's estate. Law knew it was by far the smallest in the district, but still it was probably ginormous in comparison to anything Luffy had seen before entering Mariejois.

"This is it." Law said as he held open the gate to Sanji's lawn.

Luffy whistles in appreciation of the mansion in front of him as well as the well-kept lawn that had a few fruit trees scattered about it. The waning hues of the sun glistened off the building, making it seem all the more impressive. Law couldn't help the smirk of bemusement that crossed his face, but he banished it as quickly as it came. They arrive at the door and notices that there scuffling sounds and cursing coming from inside. Law turns to Luffy with a glare.

"I swear if we open this door and your friend is trying to kill Sanji, I will murder the both of as painfully as I can." Law threatened.

"Zoro wouldn't do that!" Luffy replies.

"So you keep saying," Law grouses.

Law opens the door and Luffy tries to peer around him. The scene that is unfolding before them is something similar to what one would expect in a comedy movie, although that doesn't stop it from annoying Law. Sanji was pushing upwards on Zoro with one of his legs, trying to get the larger man off of him while Zoro was over him trying to wrench a remote control for a TV out of Sanji's hands.

"God damn it, Marimo get off of me before you open up your stupid wounds." Sanji growled through gritted teeth.

"Give me the remote then, Eyebrows." Zoro snarled right back. "I'm not watching any more stupid romance films."

"Never!" Sanji yelled in defiance.

Luffy's laughter was sudden but somewhat expected on Law's part. How else could he expect the jubilant young man to react to what they were watching? Law turned to look at the Strawhat wearing man. He was just in time to see him double over with laughter, and Law thought that soon the boy would be rolling on the ground with it.

"Luffy," Zoro shouted in annoyance as he realized that his captain was laughing at him.

"Oh Law, you're back." Sanji commented nonchalantly as he kicked Zoro off him while the man was distracted with the arrival of his captain.

"Shit-cook," Zoro growled as he was forced off the blond and onto the floor unceremoniously.

"Yes, I'm back and I see you two have been having fun in my absence." Law replied. "While you two were squabbling over a trivial choice of channel I went and found that his captain and his crewmembers plotting to attack you."

"Hey that not fair!" Luffy shouted in retort. "We thought Zoro was kidnapped."

"I was," Zoro grumbled. "Blondie won't let me leave, even now."

"Because you're wounded, moss for brains." Sanji reminded. "Are you two just going to stand in the doorway or are you actually going to come inside?"

Law and Luffy enter the mansion and close the door swiftly behind them. Law immediately crossed the room and wrapped his arms around Sanji. Sanji could tell that something was wrong and that there was something Law needed to talk to him about. He wrapped his arms around the raven-haired man and opened his mouth to say something, but Law cut him off.

"I got felt up by disembodied hands today." Law grumbled as he buried his head in Sanji's neck. "And that wasn't even the worst part. We have to talk later."

"Okay," Sanji said with a nod as he rubbed Law's back.

"Seriously what are you two?" Zoro couldn't help but ask.

"Friends," Law and Sanji replied at the same time.

"You must be best friends then, Zoro doesn't like it when I hug him." Luffy added.

"You usually do it right before you fling us all somewhere after forgetting that we aren't all made of rubber." Zoro grumbled.

"So we can escape," Luffy agrees with a nod.

"So, are you going to introduce us moss-head?" Sanji asks raising an eyebrow.

"Damn shit cook," Zoro mutters under his breath before doing as he's told. "This is my captain Monkey D. Luffy of the Strawhat Pirates."

"I'm Sanji, it's nice to meet you." Sanji says courteously while reaching out to shake Luffy's hand while Law remains clinging to him.

"Nice to meet you too," Luffy replies, "But why aren't you wearing the space suit? I thought all Celestial Dragons worn them?"

"Well most do, but I don't." Sanji replied. "I don't have the same opinions of the lower castes as they do. Plus, those things are hideous, and I will never wear one. I prefer dress suits. Also those suits are probably impossible to fight or cook in."

"Ohh, you cook?" Luffy asked already drooling while Sanji thought he could see meat reflected in the boy's eyes.

"He's the best cook." Law replies, finally releasing Sanji.

"Can you cook meat?" Luffy inquires excitedly.

"I can." Sanji responds.

"Yes!" Luffy shouts. "I want to eat! I'm starving!"

"He never said he would cook for you." Law growls. "We only brought you here so that you could know that we didn't kill your friend, so now that it's done you can leave."

"Law," Sanji scolds. "It's not a problem if he's hungry."

"But you already took in one stray," Law reasons. "If you keep feeding them then they'll just keep coming back."

"I'm not a stray," Zoro argues.

"But I'm hungry," Luffy whines.

"I'll just whip up something quick then he can leave." Sanji decides.

…

 _ **Ugh I take so long to do anything anymore. Sorry for the delay, again. I've just had horrible writer's block on everything lately. This could've been longer, but I felt like I wanted to just get what I had out there. Anyway, hope you liked it. Please leave review. Love Ya'll- LPC**_


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